When pain is all you feel
by mystic-water
Summary: When the loss of her parents leaves Hermione drowning in pain, Draco cant help but get curious. Losts of Lust, Angst and MAJOR plot twists. Rating will go up! Back from Hiatus
1. Hogwarts Express

**AN:** hey guys, wow kewl, my first HP fic, and its Draco/Hermione. Lol. I hope u like it!! The first chap is kinda slow, but I promise it will get better. - anywho... lets get started shall we?  
  
**Disclaimer:** I own nothing... except Alex   
  
**_OWTF..._** (on with the fic)

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Hogwarts Express (chap 1)

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Draco Malfoy, the tall, muscular, blonde, _sex god_ of Slytherin; watched out the train window with mild interest as the 'Golden Trio' boarded the Hogwarts Express. However it was the Mudblood that held his interest the most.  
  
The Head Girl of the school and the perfectionist princess of Gryffindor - soft curly locks of rich brown with attentive caramel highlights which she had developed over the summer seemed to glow in the reflection of the dim light of the station.  
  
That wasn't all she developed. She had curves in all the right places, and she had grown some too, he was no longer a head taller than her anymore, for the top of her head now reached his nose. Although her mind and posture was over-mature for her body over the years, her body was beginning to mature and catch up with her wit. Meaning she was getting very pretty, very fast.  
  
But it wasn't her looks that caught his attention, in fact, he still hated the filthy little Mudblood (or so he thought), but it was her expression. She wasn't talking or smiling with the two gits, Potter and Weasley. Instead she was quiet, and her eyes seemed to be dull, hallowed and empty, and from what he could tell, she was too exhausted to even cry or talk.  
  
But his attention was directed else-where when he slapped a feminine hand away from his leg, that was inching closer and closer to his... "Pansy, stop it!" He snapped, clearly annoyed with the Slytherin girls' behavior.  
  
Pansy Parkinson pouted slightly, "But Drakie-"  
  
"For Merlin's sake, Parkinson, stop calling me that and go away!" Draco said firmly, pushing her off the seat onto the floor. He didn't mean to push her that hard, but at this point, he could care less.  
  
Crabbe and Goyle snickered as Pansy got up, glaring a Draco through her teary eyes, and left the compartment in a huff.  
  
Draco merely muttered and rolled his eyes, before he heard an interesting conversation take place just outside the door.  
  
"_Ooooh_, lookie! It's Pothead, Weasel and the Mudblood." Pansy squeaked in a mocking tone.  
  
"Go away, Pansy. We aren't up to putting up with Malfoy's slut at the moment!" Ron said angrily, he seemed more agitated than usual. Draco frowned.  
  
"This, coming from the _poor_ little weasel, with hand-me-down robes?" Pansy snorted.  
  
"Just move aside, Pansy!" Harry said, irritation growing in his voice as well.  
  
"What? No comment from the walking encyclopedia this morning, Miss Granger? Or has the Mudblood, for once have nothing smart to say?" Draco could tell she was trying her best to get a reaction out of Granger, and so far it wasn't working. "-And where do you think your going?"  
  
"Move, Parkinson." Came the Mudblood's dull reply, she was clearly bored with Pansy's behavior.  
  
A few seconds past, and he heard the trio shut a compartment door behind them, before Pansy walked off in a huff. Draco frowned further; something was definitely different with those three.

* * *

Hermione Granger sat in silence as her two best friends chatted casually about the upcoming Hogwarts year. This would be their seventh and last year at the school of witchcraft and wizardry- but she knew somehow everything would be different as well.  
  
It had been a harsh summer for Hermione. Her parents had passed away at the end of sixth year at the hand of Lord Voldemort. Voldemort had caused too much pain at Hogwarts - and she had to watch it everyday that there was a new victim.  
  
But at the end of sixth year, Hermione, herself, was the victim of pain. She had stayed with Ron and Harry at the Burrow, the Weasley's, during the summer; the most painful summer of her life.  
  
Summer vacation was supposed to be fun and memorable. Oh, it was memorable, but it was far from fun. She hadn't talked or eaten much when she stayed at the Burrow. It had Mrs Weasley quite worried for her.  
  
Hermione had lost a lot of weight, and she felt like shit all the time. Somehow, everything just made her feel so bloody exhausted. Perhaps it was from crying herself to sleep every night, or maybe it was the fault of her being antisocial and so reserved and quiet. But she knew it was from the lack of sleep because of the nightly nightmares she got... the nightmare of that night... it made her sick to her stomach which was the reason why she didn't eat much.  
  
"'Mione? You okay? You're looking kind of pale." Harry's voice broke Hermione's thoughts.  
  
_'Don't think about it Hermione! Living that night once is more than enough...'_ Hermione shook her thoughts clear, slightly angry with herself for remembering that night, "I'm fine, Harry." Hermione forced a smile; a smile that both Ron and Harry knew was a fake.  
  
Ron and Harry exchanged glances; both thinking the same thing. _'Of course she's not okay.'  
_  
They both noticed right away, after the initial shock and mourning process of the Grangers, Hermione had lost all spark and life. Her eyes were dull and hallow, and they feared they would never see them sparkle with happiness again. Her heart and smile were heavy, and everything was forced now. Nothing came naturally; not a smile, not a laugh, nothing.  
  
But suddenly the sound of their compartment door sliding open broke all of their thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry... I didn't know this was taken..."  
  
All three friends glanced up, to a fairly short girl, with straight feathery blonde hair, and deep calculating emerald eyes. And from what they could tell, she was no Hogwarts student. She grinned sheepishly, "Seems like all the compartments are taken."  
  
At her presence both Harry's scar and Hermione's right shoulder began to tingle. And they instinctively rubbed the itchy spots. Ron who was ignoring his friend's odd behaviour, stared at the girl quizzically, "You can share with us if you want." He offered.  
  
The girl glanced at the three of them nervously, "Thanks." She smiled somewhat relieved, as she took a seat beside Hermione.  
  
Hermione couldn't quite explain it, but this girl... was bloody enchanting. Her vibe was familiar, but it was pleasant and frightening at the same time. Like the girl was some sort of tainted angel. She shook her head clear, before speaking up, "I'm Hermione."  
  
"I'm Alex." The girl grinned back.  
  
"Harry,"  
  
"And I'm Ron."  
  
"Nice to meet you." Alex smiled softly, "Thanks for letting me sit here. Everywhere else is full."  
  
"You don't go to Hogwarts do you?" Harry frowned as the girl shook her head, "But you can't be a first year!"  
  
"That's because I'm not. I live with my aunt, and she travels a lot, but it seems as though I can spend my last year in school at Hogwarts without leaving halfway through each semester." Alex explained, as she brushed a few of her feathery blonde hair from her eyes.  
  
"Oh, so you're a seventh year, like us?" Ron stared at her with interest.  
  
Alex nodded, "Yes, I'm-" she suddenly stopped as her eyes fixated on Harry's forehead, "You wouldn't happen to be Harry Potter would you?" she asked hesitantly, in a quiet, almost fearful voice.  
  
Harry scratched the back of his head sheepishly, "Some days I wished I wasn't."  
  
"I'm terribly sorry about your parents..." She whispered quietly.  
  
Well, that certainly wasn't the response any of them were expecting. In all the years of being recognised as a _'celebrity'_, not one had shown sympathy for him. He was always known as the boy who lived, not as the orphan.  
  
"O-oh..." Harry was sort of speechless, as he and his two friends exchanged glances, all quite shocked with Alex's reaction, "It's okay really. Not so bad... I never really did know them." He smiled weakly.  
  
"That doesn't make it okay." Alex said, frowning slightly, "What happened to you was horrible!" she huffed, "Voldemort is an evil man!" she muttered angrily.  
  
Ron winced slightly, however even Hermione herself was shocked. She was the only girl, other than herself, who had ever called the Dark Lord by name with no fear. "Indeed he is." Hermione whispered back, glancing out the window. "Voldemort should rot in Azkaban." She muttered dryly.  
  
Alex blinked before glancing at the girl beside her, "You do not fear his name either... has his evilness hurt you as well?"  
  
Hermione merely nodded, remaining silent.  
  
Harry shook his head, in a way of telling Alex not to ask about it... not yet. Alex nodded in understanding, "You both certainly aren't the only ones."  
  
Suddenly the door slid open again, only this time, Draco Malfoy stood in the doorway, only he was alone- without Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" Ron snapped heatedly.  
  
"We aren't up to deal with your bullshit right now, Malfoy. So leave!" Harry added.  
  
Alex watched with interest as Draco raised an eyebrow at the two boys, "A bit touchy aren't we Potter? For your information, I'm here for Granger."  
  
"Why?" They snapped defensively in unison.  
  
"I need to take her to the Head Boy and Girl compartment, for a brief meeting with a professor." Draco said dully, before glancing at Hermione who was staring up at him with her hallow eyes, "Are you coming or not?"  
  
Hermione nodded silently, before turning to her friends, "I'll see you at the Sorting Ceremony. Nice meeting you Alex." She said quietly, as she stood up and followed Draco to their compartment.

* * *

Draco sat across from the Mudblood, yet he couldn't help but stare at her.  
  
She sat, leaning against the wall, one leg dangling off the seat, the other stretched out on the cushion she was sitting on, while her arms remained folded over her chest. And her dull eyes aimlessly stared out the train window.  
  
Although Draco was now in his robes, Granger was still in her muggle clothing. Old blue jeans, and a loose grey jersey, with the number 88 in navy blue on the back; it looked like something she would wear to bed. She was dressed casual, and comfortable, as if she didn't care about what others thought of her appearances.  
  
_'Although... she never has.'_ Draco thought dryly.  
  
(**AN:** just a note, I find in most fics, hermiones always showing off her body when she changes over the summer, not in the fic!! Sure she has curves now, but she still doesn't care about it.)  
  
Hermione Granger was always too busy with her studies to care about her looks, or fashion style. But even though she was wearing a baggy shirt, it was sill quite apparent that her breasts had gotten bigger over the summer, even Draco couldn't deny that.  
  
Draco frowned, before he too stared out the window. He didn't want to be staring at a Mudblood for too long.  
  
Hermione merely glanced at Draco. She wasn't stupid; she knew he was staring at her since they had gotten into the Head compartment. And she certainly knew that his eyes were just staring at her face, she knew his eyes wandered lower than what she would have liked; but at the moment, she couldn't care less.  
  
She knew her body had changed over the summer, but so had her lifestyle- and her new curves were the least of her worries. However, she wasn't the only one who had changed. Both Harry and Ron had grown taller, and more handsome. Their hair was less messy, and they seemed to have matured over the summer; ever since the death of her parents, when Voldemort-  
  
Hermione shook her head clearing her thoughts before glancing at Draco again. Malfoy had changed as well over the summer. He was now a good head taller than her. His hair slightly longer and his eyes were less cold and mean. She could tell he was more muscular as well, because his robes were open, and he was wearing a tight dark green t-shirt, and black jeans.  
  
Even Hermione had to admit he had grown more attractive, but she doubted that his cocky attitude had left yet. She huffed silently, glancing back out the window, just as Professor McGonagall entered the room.  
  
"Good evening, Miss Granger, Mr Malfoy." She said curtly, glancing at each of them, as they stared back up at her, "I'm surprised you haven't killed each other yet." She smiled slightly.  
  
Hermione glance back out into the dark night, which flashed past the train window, "I would never _kill _anyone, Professor, even if it _is _Malfoy." She whispered.  
  
This had caught, Draco's attention, as he watched Hermione fight back tears and McGonagall tense with remorse and guilt. "Of - of course not, Miss Granger. I'm sorry..."  
  
Hermione forced a smile, and glanced at her Professor, "Don't mind me; what did you need to tell us Professor?"  
  
McGonagall regained her posture as she continued to explain to the Head Boy and Girl, the fact that they would be sharing living quarters of their own common room for the rest of the year, as well as their duties as well as a few other things. "Also, for any dances or balls that are organized I would appreciate for you both to go together, don't give me that look Mr Malfoy, we need to start forming stronger bonds between the houses; which means you two will have to start being civil towards one another."  
  
Hermione nodded silently, with no trace of argument, while Draco nodded hesitantly, but certainly not reluctantly.  
  
"Good, now I want you both to remain here until we reach Hogsmade, and then you can go your separate ways and find your friends. See you at the Ceremony." She smiled lightly, before leaving them alone again.  
  
Hermione sighed heavily, before glancing at Draco who was staring at her, "What?" she asked dully, not even bothering to snap at him like she usually did all the previous years.  
  
"What was the whole _'killing'_ people thing about?" He frowned, curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
"You wouldn't care. Remember? I'm a Mudblood." She reminded him quietly with a hint of malice in her voice; trying to keep her voice solid, and not waver and break down in tears.  
  
"Fuck, whatever." Draco snorted, glaring back out the window.  
  
_'Bloody Hell, this is going to be a long year... I can't even fucking tease her... I cant... Something's too different about her.'_ Draco glanced at her again, to find her sitting in silence with her eyes shut.  
  
_'What the hell happened to you this summer, Mudblood?'_

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**AN:** Interesting, yesh I noe. It gets better I swear. Hermiones kinda OOC koz shes now an orphan... but im trying to picture her the best way I can, I mean it wud be pretty hard if u just lost ur parents over the summer...anyway I cant give away the plot...  
  
Anyway. **Read and Review** please. I promise this isn't really ur typical Draco/Hermione fic. I just hope u like it.  
  
L8ter dayz  
  
mystic-water 


	2. Amor Prohibido

**AN:** if you must noe, Alex **_does eventually_** play an important role later on. But I cant spoil anything now can I?  
  
Wow thanks for all the reviews!! 0.o owell im planning on changing the summary later, koz it sucks! Anywho thanx for all ur great reviews. Im glad u agree with me on hermiones new change but same personality. Don't worry, Draco wont be soft. I mean, what fun wud that be? LOL  
  
But trust me, by the time Christmas comes around, things wont be so dull for these two. Hehehehe. Ahem, anywho....  
  
**_OWTF..._** (on with the fic)

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Amor Prohibido (chap 2)

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Hermione rubbed her temples in hopes of easing her throbbing headache that pounded against her skull. She had never realized how long a train ride could be, when you're sharing a compartment with the Slytherin idiot.  
  
At the moment, McGonagall was calling up first years to the Sorting Hat to be sorted into their proper houses. "Alex Kydell!"  
  
Yes, even the sorting took forever; they were only on _'K'_. However, Hermione, Ron and Harry watched as Alex made her way to the sorting hat, and sat down on the stool.  
  
"I bet she'll be in Gryffindor." She heard Ron whisper to Harry.  
  
"Hope so." Harry nodded in agreement.  
  
Hermione however remained silent, as her eyes traveled back over to her new friend, and once again, like the first moment she and Harry met her, Hermione's shoulder began to tingle. _'Fuck.'_ She thought angrily, clutching her right shoulder in confusion, just as Harry subconsciously rubbed his forehead.  
  
"SLYTHERIN!!!" The Sorting Hat bellowed over the silence Dining Hall.  
  
An uproar of cheers and claps came from Slytherin table (probably happy that they got a new sexy student), while the Golden Trio sat in astonishment. "Slytherin?" Hermione whispered, "Why, Slytherin?"  
  
Alex flashed them an apologetic smile, as she sat down at the Slytherin table, beside another Slytherin girl.  
  
"Okay... I'm confused! I don't get it!" Ron growled, slightly irritated, as he glared across the room at a smug looking Malfoy.  
  
Harry glared at Malfoy, as he continued to rub his forehead, before he glanced at Hermione, who seemed equally confused.  
  
"I don't either, Ron." Hermione frowned too, as she continued to rub her shoulder.

* * *

Much to Hermione's displeasure, it was Snape who lead the Head Boy and Girl to their room. He gave them both stern looks as they approached the portrait, "The Password is _Amor Prohibido._ Please keep in mind, you are the **ONLY** people allowed in this room."  
  
Both nodded, as Snape left them alone in silence. Draco glared at Hermione, "Don't just stand there Mudblood, open the door!"  
  
Hermione just ignored his usual, but crude, remarks, "_Amor Prohibido_."  
  
The icy winged cat, with a coat white as snow and eyes of sparkling sapphire, which sat on a high golden pedestal in periwinkle clouds, gave a light purr, before the door swung open.  
  
The common room wasn't anything too fancy. Black Leather couches, a soft rabbit fur rug in front of the fire place, the walls painted deep maroon which contrasted with the white carpet, and a maple table set with chairs for them to study and finish their work assignments on.  
  
Draco glanced up at the stairs, _'Our rooms must be up there.' _Draco shrugged, before heading upstairs to check things out. Hermione finding nothing more to look at, at the living room, followed Draco upstairs.  
  
There were two doors, one with Draco Malfoy, written in silver handwriting; the other with Hermione Granger written in gold handwriting.  
  
Hermione entered her room, and glanced around. A large, queen sized bed, with gold and red silk and satin blankets and sheets. Basically her whole room was in her Gryffindor colours. Her bedroom also attached to a bathroom.  
  
Now the bathroom itself could be a common room all on its own; with a large swimming pool, and a large Jacuzzi bathtub, two sinks, and of course a toilet; all completely decorated in blue.  
  
"So, we share a bloody bathroom as well." A cool voice, snorted from behind.  
  
Startled, Hermione spun around to glare at Draco who was standing in another door that attached to his bedroom and their bathroom. He stood glaring at her, with a smug expression, as he always did  
  
"Apparently." Hermione huffed back, carelessly. Hermione must have known he was thinking something ironic about sharing a bathroom with a **Mud**blood, because her listless expression, turned slightly annoyed, "Whatever Malfoy." She whispered exhaustedly, before returning to her bedroom.

* * *

Draco glared at her retreating figure, as she slammed the door that lead to her bedroom behind her. "Stupid Mudblood." He muttered in a low dry voice. He hated when people shoved him off like that; as if they were better than him.  
  
_'Hn, that bitch is lower than dirt.'_ He smirked inwardly, glaring at the door, before he too turned around and entered his own bedroom.  
  
She would _never_ be better than a Malfoy.  
  
She was after all a muggle born- nothing pure about that witch, _'I mean, bitch._' He smirked as he corrected himself, and flopped down on his own queen sized bed, which was covered in his own silver and green Slytherin colours.  
  
He sighed heavily, yet he couldn't contain his eyes from wandering to the bathroom door that connected their rooms. He couldn't help but be intrigued on why she was so reserved and empty. It was like she couldn't care less about how he treated her. Now he couldn't get a bloody reaction out of her, when he called her a 'Mudblood.'  
  
_'Fuck, whatever.'_ His curious glance turned into a cold, hard glare at the door, before he snuggled into his blankets, removing his clothing, leaving him in dark forest green boxers, before falling asleep.

* * *

Hermione awoke, feeling well-rested. She had nearly forgotten she was an orphan now; but somehow that was always the first thought that came to her indolent mind. She growled at herself for beginning to remember such a thing, as she got up, and headed to the washroom for a hot shower. Some thing she not only needed, but wanted.  
  
Long, hot showers tended to allow her body to relax as the water washed over her. She smiled slightly at the soothing thought as she opened the bathroom door, and shut it behind her.  
  
Hermione let out a loud shriek, as she stumbled back against the door, her hands clasped over her mouth in shock.  
  
Draco stood glaring at her, completely naked, before he snatched a green towel and wrapped it around himself. He noted that she had been, indeed staring at him... ogling at him, no less! He let his trademark smirk plaster across his face.  
  
Hermione's eyes went wide, as her eyes scanned his body, _'Oh god... his body... why hadn't I noticed- oh fuck, I'm staring!!'  
_  
As if reading her thoughts, Draco's smirk grew wider, "You're staring, Granger. And If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're drooling too."  
  
Hermione suddenly recovered and smirked at this, "Indeed I _was_ staring, Malfoy... But it was only because I was shocked... I had no idea..." She trailed off innocently.  
  
Draco was hooked. He frowned, "No idea, what?" What was the Mudblood, playing at?  
  
"Well... I've heard so much about you. You're supposed to be the _sex god_ of Slytherin..." Draco smirked at this, "But I honestly don't get what the girls are gossiping about... I mean... _Come on_, Malfoy. We both know, you aren't exactly the biggest man, when it comes to _lower regions_." She shrugged as her eyes flickered downwards.  
  
Draco went tense. That bitch had the nerve to... "You're a bitch." He hissed, his voice dripping in malice.  
  
Hermione shrugged; she didn't care. Inside she was grinning all over- Malfoy had _that _coming.  
  
She smirked lightly at him, "Now if you don't mind, I want to take a shower. So I suggest you get out. Unless you want to watch; I have nothing to hide. But I doubt that you'd want to see a Mudblood naked. So get out!" She said firmly, as if daring him to double cross her again.  
  
Draco gritted his teeth; he'd get her back later for that comment. "My pleasure." He growled, before slamming his door behind him, earning a grin of triumph from Hermione.

* * *

Now late October; a mere month after Hermione had started living with Malfoy had passed. She sat in the Library, talking quietly to Alex; whom she had grown quite close to.  
  
Alex was, really the only girl friend she had. She occasionally talked to Lavender and Pavarti; but somehow she felt a strong connection with Alex. Although sometimes her presence brought tingles to Hermione's right shoulder; but it was always ignored.  
  
"Harry's told me how much of a prat Draco is. It's too bad I'm in Slytherin, I much rather hang around with you and the boys in the common room, than Draco's stupid friends." Alex muttered dryly.  
  
"You don't get along well with the other Slytherin's?" Hermione blinked in confusion.  
  
Alex shook her head, "Not really. Pansy, Crabbe and Goyle really hate me. Blaise isn't too bad, he just doesn't like the fact that I hang around with Harry. But personally I think it's because he doesn't like Ginny having a crush on Harry."  
  
"You noticed that too?" Hermione grinned.  
  
"Yeah, but the sad thing is. Harry shows no interest in her- either that, or he's completely naïve. And Blaise would be furious if Harry acknowledged the fact that Ginny likes him." Alex sighed heavily.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
Alex glanced at Hermione, "I'm actually quite close to Blaise. He tells me things... He fancy's Ginny."  
  
"No!" She gasped wide eyed, "He does?"  
  
Alex nodded meekly, with a slight grin from her friend's reaction. "Yeah, he does."  
  
"But that could never work... I mean, there hasn't been a Slytherin/Gryffindor couple, since Salazar himself left Hogwarts!" Hermione said, completely shocked at this.  
  
"You don't think it's impossible do you?" Alex asked in a weak, hopeful voice.  
  
"Impossible... no. Unlikely... very!" Hermione shook her head, "I mean, the tension between the two houses have been at its peak for years... I mean, Slytherin's and Gryffindor's can barely hold friendships, let alone relationships." She shrugged nonchalantly.  
  
"What about me?" Alex frowned slightly.  
  
"You're different, Alex. You're nothing like a Slytherin. I don't know why you were even sorted into that house!" Hermione said, slightly agitated.  
  
Alex placed her hand above her left breast uneasily, "Yea..."  
  
"Well... This is an odd sight; a Slytherin and a Gryffindor, being civil to one another." A cool voice said from behind. The two girls glanced around to stare up at Draco Malfoy; who stood with his arms crossed.  
  
"It's not odd Malfoy. You know, Alex and I are friends." Hermione frowned up at the Head Boy who shrugged carelessly. "What do you want, Malfoy?" She huffed.  
  
Draco glanced away from Alex to glare at Hermione, "Professor McGonagall wants to talk to us in her office, now."  
  
Hermione nodded without question, before glancing at Alex with an apologetic smile, "Sorry Hun, Head Girl duties call." She laughed weakly.  
  
Alex nodded in understanding, "That's okay. I promised to meet Harry in the courtyard, in a few minutes. I'll see you later, 'Mione."  
  
"Bye Alex." Hermione waved to her friend, before following an annoyed Draco to McGonagall's office.  
  
When they entered her office, she was already waiting for them. "Good, so Mr Malfoy found you with no trouble I see."  
  
"It's never hard to find Granger; she's always in the library." Malfoy smirked, almost playfully at Hermione, who glared back at him – despite the fact that it was the truth.  
  
McGonagall smiled lightly, before she got down to business, "Basically, since Halloween is coming up, I want you both to organize it. Food, decorations, anything that you see fit... However, there is only one major thing Dumbledore has asked from you..." she paused a moment and they both didn't like what was coming.  
  
"As you know, you must go together." She started off.  
  
"Yes, you told us that on the train, Professor," Hermione reminded her quietly.  
  
"Yes, well... The headmaster has asked that you both share at least one dance by the end of the night..." She said as quickly as she could, because she knew the reactions that would come from the two enemies.  
  
**"WHAT?!!"**  
  
McGonagall winced slightly. Yup she was right. "Lower your voices; there is no need to shriek like that." She sent them both a warning look that said _'Don't push it, or you'll lose points.'  
_  
"I realise this isn't exactly how you wanted to be spending your last year dances, but I must remind you, we need to make the bonds between houses stronger." McGonagall said lightly, and both Head Boy and Girl could do nothing but nod in reply.  
  
"Good, now you may return to your, rooms. That's all that was needed." She smiled lightly; allowing them both to leave, and return to their rooms.

* * *

"It's not that big of a deal, Ron." Hermione said in a weak attempt to calm the angry redhead.  
  
Harry gave Hermione a knowing look, causing Alex to laugh. "Ok... maybe a little..."  
  
"A little?!?! You have to dance with Malfoy at every bloody dance we go to!" Ron said heatedly.  
  
"Thanks for stating the obvious Ronald." Alex teased.  
  
Ron ignored her before glancing back at Hermione, "You don't suppose the Professors will let you and that prat get away with not organizing any dances?" He asked hopefully.  
  
"Ron, you know I can't do that. There are at least 4 a year; Halloween, Christmas, Valentines, and the Yule Ball. We can't cancel those!" Hermione huffed. Just the thought of sharing and organizing four dances this year with Draco Malfoy made her completely exhausted.  
  
"Speaking of dances; who are you taking to the Halloween Dance, Ron?" Alex asked suddenly, her full attention on a red faced Ronald Weasley.  
  
"Lavender Brown..." He muttered.  
  
Hermione smiled lightly, "That's wonderful Ron! What about you Alex?" Hermione turned to a blushing Alex, "Who's taking you??"  
  
"I am." Harry grinned.  
  
Hermione blinked; she definitely did not see _that _coming. "Really? Wow. Well that's great!" She smiled weakly.  
  
_'This really sucks... everyone gets to go with someone they enjoy being around...'_ Hermione glared over to the Slytherin table at Draco who sat with Pansy and his other friends. He had probably just told Pansy he was going, regrettably, with the Mudblood, because she was now glaring at Hermione too.  
  
_'As for me...'_ Her glare turned cold as her eyes flickered over to Draco, who wasn't too happy about the arrangement either, _'I get to spend all the dances, with an insufferable, pure-blooded, git...'___

* * *

****

**AN:** yesh that's was another _SLOW_ chapter. Trust me, it gets way better next chap; more moments, and more upbeat. And there is gunna be a hell of a lot more plot twists as we get further along into the fic.  
  
Thnx for all your good reviews... srry if its really bad at the moment. All I can do is promise it gets better.  
  
**What's to happen next chap:** The Halloween dance; and Draco finally learns the truth about Hermione's summer.  
  
_L8ter Dayz_  
  
mystic-water


	3. Her Nightmare

**AN:** sorry for the delay. I wont be updating for a week. I'm going on vacation with my family....  
  
Hope u like his chappie it gets a bit fluffier XD  
  
**_OWTF..._** (on with the fic)

* * *

Her Nightmare (chap 3)

* * *

"No. This is stupid. I am _not _dressing up for Halloween." Hermione said stubbornly, as she glared daggers at Alex and Lavender, who had snuck into her dorm room.  
  
The three girls were sitting in Hermione's Head Girl room, while trying to persuade her to dress up for the dance.  
  
"Come on 'Mione! Let me and Lav' make you **drop-dead-gorgeous**!!" Alex pleaded with bright blue puppy eyes.  
  
"No! Remember, I'm going with Malfoy! And I'm certainly not gunna look '**drop-dead-gorgeous**' for _him_!" Hermione muttered dryly; completely angry with the fact that Malfoy was her date.  
  
"At least, let us do your make up." Lavender huffed.  
  
"Yeah. Wear some muggle clothes! Dumbledore didn't say you two had to get dressed up did he?" Alex grinned, as she picked up the wand and makeup kit.  
  
"And let us do something with your hair!" Lavender pleaded, as Hermione subconsciously stroked her bushy curls, glaring at her two friends.  
  
"Fine." Hermione rolled her eyes, "But I'm not dressing up!"  
  
Alex and Lavender exchanged grins, as they pushed Hermione into the big washroom, which she shared with Malfoy, and got to work.

* * *

"GRANGER!!! Get your ass down here now! We have to get there early-" Draco stopped in mid sentence, as Alex and Lavender came running down the stairs with grins plastered on their faces, "What are you two doing here?" he frowned.  
  
They just laughed, before rushing out of the common room, to go get ready themselves.  
  
"ALEX!! LAVENDER!!! GET BACK HERE!!"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes as he heard the Mudblood squeal from upstairs; and from the sounds of things, she wasn't too happy. "Granger! Let's go!" he huffed.  
  
"Stop yelling!!" Hermione yelled back at him from the top of the stairs.  
  
Draco blinked; _'Is that really the Mudblood?'_ his eyes flickered over her body, looking her up and down._ 'It can't be...'_  
  
Hermione sighed dejectedly, running her hands through her now soft and straight brown hair, which glistened with natural caramel highlights. She wasn't wearing too much makeup; shimmering lip gloss, and black eyeliner and mascara that brought out her striking deep chocolate brown eyes, and made them look bigger.  
  
She was wearing a pair of Alex's tight blue jeans that clung to her hips and showed off the curves in her legs and hips that she developed over the summer. She also wore just a normal, plain white spaghetti strap shirt. It wasn't tight or anything, but it did show off her breasts a tad bit more than what Hermione would have liked.  
  
Draco could tell that she didn't like it much, because whenever she wore muggle clothes she made sure they were baggy. None of Hermione's clothes showed off her body _this _well.  
  
To say the least, if he had just seen her on the street, he would have never guessed it was Granger.  
  
"Not one word Malfoy!" She threatened, obviously thinking Draco was about to tease her. She stormed down the stairs angrily, "If we didn't have to be there early, I would be fixing this _mess_. So don't fucking even make a smart ass comment about it, 'cause I don't like it _either_!"  
  
"Who said I didn't like it?" Draco frowned as Hermione glared at him, "Not very nice, jumping to conclusions, Granger." He gave her his trademark smirk.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes, and stormed out of the common room down to the Great Hall, with Draco following silently behind her, smirking at her _misfortune_.  
  
_'He's such a smart ass.'_ She gritted her teeth as she entered the Great Hall with Draco.

* * *

Now a bit calmer, and less bitchy, Hermione sat alone at a table, the dull emptiness returning to her eyes. The more time she spent alone, the more she thought of her parents.  
  
She sighed heavily; as she watched Alex _(dressed as Xena Warrior Princess)_ and Harry _(dressed as Hercules)_ share a slow dance, as well as Ron_ (dressed as a knight)_ and Lavender _(dressed as a princess)_... and to her slight amazement, Ginny and Blaise. _(dressed as a witch and a vampire)  
_  
Ginny was blushing like crazy when Blaise hesitantly asked her to dance. They didn't go together, as much as Alex tried to push Blaise to ask the Weasley girl. But apparently, Alex had convinced him to ask her to dance, because she was grinning like a madwoman.  
  
Hermione laughed lightly as Alex winked at her, before she returned to her dance with Harry. _'At least they're enjoying themselves.'_ She thought sadly as the song started slowing down.  
  
"Granger." A cool, seductive voice whispered in her ear, startling her. Hermione spun around to stare dully up at Draco.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy?" She huffed exhaustedly, resting her chin in her left palm.  
  
"There is only one more slow song left after this one, so Dumbledore suggested that I come find you." He rolled his eyes at Hermione's annoyed expression.  
  
"What's your point Malfoy?" She asked dully, before glancing out aimlessly onto the dance floor, just as a new song started.  
  
_ I didn't hear you leave  
I wonder how am I still here  
And I don't want to move a thing  
It might change my memory._  
  
"You stupid bookworm! We are supposed to share a dance before the night is over, remember?" He frowned down at her, but followed her gaze out onto the floor.  
  
"Granger, have you even gotten up off your ass once and shared a dance with anyone tonight?" He asked accusingly, glaring at her.  
  
"No..." Hermione hadn't meant to reply to him, she wanted to stay quiet, but she found herself answering him anyway.  
  
_ Oh I am what I am  
I'll do what I want  
But I can't hide_  
  
Draco rolled his eyes, "Well then, I guess we are going to have to change that, aren't we?" He grunted as he snatched her hand, and literally pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Malfoy, stop it! I really don't want to dance right now!" She huffed, slightly irritated; as she tried to pull her hand away so she could sit back down.  
  
"Don't really have a choice, Mudblood." He growled, as he dragged her away from the table. "Unless you want to deal with Dumbledore, Snape or McGonagall; I suggest you dance."

_ I won't go  
I won't sleep  
I can't breathe  
Until you're resting here with me._  
  
_'Think; making the bonds between houses stronger, Hermione. Strong bonds.'_ Hermione finally gave up struggling, and let Draco lead her onto the dance floor, earning a glare from Ron, which she ignored.  
  
"Fine." She muttered quietly, although she now already standing in front of him. She sighed heavily, and let her arms snake around his neck hesitantly, as she felt him stiffly put his hands on her waist. "I don't bite, Malfoy." She grinned.  
  
Draco glared at her, "Will you just shut up and dance, Mudblood?" He growled.  
  
_ I won't leave  
I can't hide  
I cannot be  
Until you're resting here with me_  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes at the usual comment about her blood, before she leaned into him tiredly. She was so exhausted. She couldn't blame herself though; she hadn't gotten much sleep since her parents passed on...  
  
She stiffened at the thought, and tried to calm herself. However, Draco noticed.  
  
"What's wrong, now?" He whispered in her ear, clearly annoyed with the fact that he had to dance with her, Malfoy's hated being forced to do stuff.  
  
"Nothing," Hermione whispered back, annoyance clear in her voice as well; allowing herself to relax in his hold, her head resting on his right shoulder.  
  
_ I don't want to call my friends  
They might wake me from this dream  
And I can't leave this bed  
Risk forgetting all that's been._  
  
Draco seemed to relax to, as he allowed his stiff hands to loosen and wrap around the small of her back. While Hermione, found her self pressed against him. She didn't mind too much, the smell of winter that surrounded her was intoxicating.  
  
She glanced over Draco's shoulder to see Alex watching them intently, as she snuggled closer into Harry's embrace. Hermione grinned at this. Alex let out a small laugh, and winked at Hermione, before snuggling her nose into Harry's neck causing him to blush brightly. Hermione shook her head, grinning at the couple.  
  
_ Oh I am what I am  
I'll do what I want  
But I can't hide_  
  
She glanced at Ron to see him glaring at her and Malfoy over Lavender's shoulder. Hermione scowled. It wasn't like she chose to go with Malfoy. He didn't have to be so uptight over it. She rolled her eyes, before glancing to the large clock.  
  
11:49pm  
  
Meaning this would be the last dance of the night. _'Only 10 more minutes and I can go up and get some sleep...'_ she exhaled, leaning on Draco more, exhaustion getting the better of her body.  
  
_ I won't go  
I won't sleep  
I can't breathe  
Until you're resting here with me._  
  
As the song got slower and slower, she noticed that nearly everyone in the hall, even if they were still dancing, was staring at Draco and Hermione. She growled at this.  
  
"Oh, so you_ finally_ noticed that they are watching us, did you?" Draco smirked as he whispered into her ear.  
  
"What do you mean, _finally_?" She frowned, as she whispered back, glaring at a few people whom were staring at them.  
  
"They've been watching since I dragged you from your seat." He said nonchalantly and a low whisper.  
  
Hermione rolled her eyes; at the moment she could care less, she was too tired, exhausted, and comfortable to care... _'Comfortable?'_ Hermione blinked, _'Yeah okay... comfortable.'  
  
_ _I won't leave  
I can't hide  
I cannot be  
Until you're resting here with me_  
  
They pulled apart as the song ended, and glanced over at the table where Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape sat. The Headmaster was grinning proudly, McGonagall nodded in approval, while Snape sat in silence glaring at them both, clearly _not_ impressed.  
  
Hermione huffed, before glancing back at Draco, "Thanks for the dance Malfoy." She muttered quietly, before returning to her table, to sit for the remaining five minutes of the Halloween Dance.

* * *

Draco, lay on his bed, wide awake. It was now some hours after the dance, yet he could not bring himself to find sleep. He turned over on his side, but found nothing but insomnia to taunt him.  
  
He growled, but suddenly stopped when he heard distant whimpers and cries from Hermione's room. Thinking he could go yell at her for his own restlessness, he stormed through the washroom, and opened Hermione's door. Yet the room was dark, but now the moans and whimpers were louder.  
  
He could hear Hermione toss in her sleep, and as he got closer, he noticed her face was scrunched up in pain. "No!! Please stop!!" she wailed suddenly, causing Draco to stumble back a bit.  
  
_'She's having a nightmare...'_ He blinked as he inched closer to her bed, curiosity getting the better of him.  
  
"Mom! Dad!" She yelled frantically. Her voice trembled in fear, "No... Stay back... No!" She screamed angrily, as if yelling at someone. "You bastard! Stay away!" She yelled tears streaming from her eyes.  
  
Suddenly Hermione let out a piercing scream, as she bolted up right in pain, and fear. Instinctively, Draco wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to calm her. But as his left hand wrapped around her right shoulder, he felt like he was burned, he withdrew his hand, realizing she was in a bra and boxers, but examined her shoulder anyway.  
  
He couldn't contain his gasp, as he stared at her shoulder, while Hermione sobbed against his chest. A large skull, with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue was burned into her skin, on her right shoulder blade.  
  
"The Dark Mark!" Draco said out loud as she stared down at her trembling body.  
  
Hermione pulled herself from Draco's hold, "Don't look at it!" She screamed angrily, as she pushed him off the bed, onto the floor.  
  
Draco glared at the hysterical girl from the floor, "Dammit Granger!" He hissed, as he got to his feet, and walked towards her.  
  
"Get away from me, Malfoy!" She demanded helplessly, as she backed herself against the wall side of the bed. "Stay away!" she cried.  
  
Draco would have none of that; he snatched her ankles and pulled her flat on her back, causing her to cry out weakly. Draco straddled her waist, and pinned her wrists above her head so she couldn't move. "What happened to you over the summer, Mudblood?!" he demanded  
  
"Nothing!" Hermione screamed back, tears of agony streaming down her cheeks.  
  
"Bullshit!" His grip on her wrists tightened, causing her to hiss in pain.  
  
"Malfoy... Please... Let go..." She pleaded uselessly.  
  
"I'm not letting you go until you tell me where the hell you got that mark, Granger!" He said forcefully, tightening his grip again.  
  
Tears burst from her eyes, as she found herself giving in to the Slytherin Prince's demands.

* * *

Hermione pressed her back against the wall as she listened to fearful shouts from down stairs.  
  
"Get out!" She heard her father yell at another man, "Before I call the cops."  
  
"Foolish muggle. Your pathetic authority figures are no match for me." The voice was cold and harsh, and it sent shivers up and down her spine. "Where is the Mudblood child?" the voice demanded.  
  
_'No... it can't be.'_ Hermione gasped, peering around the corner.  
  
A man in a cloak stood, towering over her scared parents... And Death Eaters stood behind him... "Voldemort..." She whispered, her eyes widened in fear.  
  
And her parents had no idea what strength of evil magic he possessed. _'Mom... Dad... Run!'_ She screamed mentally, although her voice refused to cooperate; it was if the Silence Charm was cast upon her.  
  
"You will _not _touch my daughter!" She heard her mother yell angrily.  
  
"Don't make me laugh, muggle. You can not stop me." Voldemort laughed icily in a mocking tone.  
  
And then she heard her father say something she wished he had never said, "Over my dead body, will you _ever_ harm my 'Mione!"  
  
It was in this moment, she forced her feet to move, as she ran around the corner to the top of the stairs.  
  
"As you wish." His voice was shrill, and a smirk is plastered upon his face, "_Avada Kedavra_!" The thin man raised his wand, and within seconds... they were gone.  
  
"NO!!" Hermione screamed angrily, pointing her wand at Voldemort.  
  
Voldemort's cat like scarlet eyes flickered over to her, as he too points his wand at her "_Expelliarmus_." He hissed causing her wand to go flying out of her hand. "Foolish child; do you really think you can kill me?" he smirked, as he motioned for the Death Eaters to fall back.  
  
He slowly started to make his way up the stairs, his wand never leaving her figure.  
  
"No..." She hissed, "Stay back!!" She screamed fearfully, before turning and running to her room, slamming her door shut, and backing herself up against the far wall.  
  
Voldemort was suddenly in her room, "_Silencio_!" He pointed his wand at her, placing the Silencing Charm over her.  
  
Tears seeped from her eyes, as she found her self cowering in fear, her arms flew around her head in an attempt to protect herself.  
  
"You know if I wanted to kill you, doing that would never help." His voice as cold as death itself.  
  
Of course she knew that, she wasn't stupid! If she could have she would have yelled that at him.  
  
"Oh, and Miss Granger."  
  
Hermione glanced up at him, fear clouding over in her eyes, _'Why hasn't he killed me yet?'  
_  
His smile grew even more wicked, "Tell Potter, that this is a mere taste of what is to come, when I finally get my hands on him." His eyes traveled down her body, "The irony of it all... Now you and Potter will match; orphans bearing the marks of Voldemort." He laughed before he pointed his wand at her.  
  
Tears welled in her eyes as her body quivered in fear.  
  
"_Morsmordre_!" He hissed as a glittering green spell was seared onto her right shoulder.  
  
Hermione opened her mouth to scream, with the searing pain that scorched her trembling body; nothing but silence. Suddenly, Voldemort was gone...and her house was silent.  
  
He had left Hermione alone in her room, trembling in a corner, twitching and squirming in pain... It felt like hours, until Snape (**AN:** yesh I said Snape) found her battered and broken body in her bedroom.

* * *

Hermione was now trembling in fear, pain and sorrow for reliving that night, and slowly Draco released his hold on her wrists; completely stunned at what had happened to her.  
  
She had faced the Dark Lord and lived... Just like Potter.  
  
Slowly Draco got up, moving to get off the bed, but Hermione clung to his right arm. "No..." She murmured, tears spilling from her deep brown eyes, "Don't leave me alone, Malfoy." She begged.  
  
For the first time, Draco actually felt empathy for the Mudblood; it was, after all, his fault she was in this state. He couldn't really deny her of company now. Draco nodded numbly, trying to ignore the fact that she was still a Mudblood, and crawled beside her.  
  
He didn't push her away when she clung to him either. How could he? She feared the Dark Lord, and she bared the Dark Mark- and it was his fault for making her relive that night.  
  
_'Curse my curiosity.'_ Draco growled, but tensed suddenly as he found Hermione laying her head on his chest, still sniffling; slowly crying herself to sleep  
  
But now he knew... it all made sense now... why she was acting the way she was...  
  
She was too exhausted to even care about his crude remarks towards her. And all that time, he had no idea that she was emotionally suffering... he didn't know... he was so stupid... he was so selfish... he didn't know.  
  
_'Granger... I'm sorry... I didn't know...'_

* * *

AN: fluffy i noe. and draco ish OOCish too.. but i swear it gets better... i hope XP anywho. next chap is next week. oh yesh, i spellchecked and edited this chappie, so i reposted it now.

read and review pweez

**Next Chap:** The aftermath of this chap, and some **_very twisted_** christmas surprises XD

_L8ter Dayz_

mystic-water


	4. Unwelcome Surprises

**AN:** mwehehehe I love this chappie. I'm _finally_ getting into the twists of the plot. I'm glad u enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope u all like this one too. God its hard writing this fic koz its my first Harry Potter fic.

Anyway, I hope im not going too fast, things will start slowing down after the next two chaps _(which I wrote while on vacation_) meaning ill be updating again **soon**

* * *

Unwelcome Surprises (chap 4)

* * *

Throughout the month of November, Hermione and Draco tended to avoid each other as much as possible – things got even more awkward after Draco found out about her summer.

Hermione was so relieved when she woke up alone the next morning – the warmth of Draco's arms around her had left sometime earlier that morning; but she was thankful he left before she awoke._ That_ would have made things a hell of a lot more uncomfortable.

Yet, at the same time she was wishing that night had never happened. Draco was now the first and only person to see and know the truth about her scar; and frankly this scared the shit out of her.

She confided, her darkest and most horrid moment of her life, in the one person who she had hated for the past six years at Hogwarts. And to make things worst, she had felt so weak when Draco demanded to know the truth.

It was useless to fight against him; she knew that. But that insecure, helpless feeling had returned; just like the night her parents were murdered.

Hermione sighed heavily as she sat in the Head's common room, sitting on a warm soft fur mat in front of the flickering and snapping fire - as the light of its flames danced across her face warming her cheeks.

She indulged herself in her favourite book "Hogwarts; A History" for what have most likely been the hundredth time (perhaps even two hundred) in the seven years she had been attending Hogwarts.

She had planned to read all Christmas Vacation… seeing as how everyone she knew was going home for Christmas with their families, leaving Hermione alone, to wallow in her thoughts at Hogwarts. She flipped a page of the book as she scanned through the next page.

She much rather spend time alone at Hogwarts than at the Weasley's with Harry, Ron and his family. She knew she was alone now. Her parents were gone, and she had no relatives that she could think of. Besides Christmas was a _family_ holiday- she couldn't bring herself back into the spirit of Christmas… because, she had no family.

She was so entranced with her book she didn't notice when the Head Boy came down from his room, and began to study her from the base of the stairs, remaining silent as he watched her.

Draco knew this would be her first Christmas at Hogwarts - alone - as an orphan. She persuaded Ron and Harry to return to the Burrow, because she didn't want to be a burden, and it just wouldn't feel right, because it wasn't her home. Even Alex was heading home to her Aunts for Christmas.

Her eyes were glazed over in a dull and silent sadness that seemed endless in her eyes as she read through her book; it was the only thing that kept her mind slightly off the painful holiday memories.

Draco huffed at her expression "Granger." he finally spoke up after ten minutes of gazing at her.

She jumped slightly and glanced up at Draco. She really wasn't up to dealing with the prat; although she hadn't really spoken with him since that night… "What is it Malfoy? Is it bedtime already?" She frowned slightly. Had she lost track of time?

Draco glanced to the clock; it was only quarter after ten. "No, it's not that late." he frowned as he made his way over to the rug beside the fire, and sat down on the couch across from where she was sitting ont he floor.

Hermione put her book down to stare at the glowing embers of the fire, sighing softly; that pained look in her eyes returning. Draco glanced around the holiday decorated room; a Christmas tree in the corner, holy wrapped around the stair railing. Green and Red everywhere. He paused to think a moment - green and red - Slytherin and Gryffindor colours - it suited their room - it suited them.

He shook his head of his thoughts, before glancing down at the Mudblood again, "Dumbledore wants to see you in his office. Snape asked me to tell you." He said suddenly in a nonchalant tone.

"Oh? Okay…" she gently shut her book, and got to her feet, brushing off her robes as she stood, "Well, I suppose I won't have to deal with you when I get back then, will I?" She glanced at her roommate, in a less malicious than usual way.

"No. I'm supposed to be already gone, but as I said before, Snape asked me to tell you before I left." He shrugged, "See you in a few weeks Mudblood." He grunted, before leaving the common room, and leaving Hermione alone again.

"Yea…" She muttered, mostly to herself, before she too left the common room, and made her way up to Dumbledore's office.

* * *

"Take a seat Miss Granger." Dumbledore surveyed Hermione through his half-moon glasses.

She had never seen the Headmaster so tense and serious before. So she complied, and sat down across from Dumbledore. "Malfoy told me you wanted to see me sir?"

Dumbledore nodded, "Miss Granger, what I'm about to tell you, is fresh information, although I have been looking into this since the end of sixth year, and I have just now found what I was looking for." He paused as Hermione gave him her utmost attention, full of curiosity.

Hermione nodded, allowing him to continue.

"I'm not sure whether to be comforted or troubled when I tell you; you are a half-Veela."

"Wh-what?" Hermione managed to sputter out, "Impossible!"

Dumbledore shook his head, "If you let me explain, Miss Granger, you will know that what I'm telling you is not at all impossible." When Hermione remained silent, Dumbledore continued, "Miss Granger, do you remember that blood test we gave you for infection, around the ending of your sixth year?"

Hermione nodded, oh she remembered that clearly. "That was when Malfoy was being a stupid prat, and let loose the pixies in **Advanced DADA** (defence against the dark arts) class, and a Pixie bit my hand." She said, somewhat bitterly.

Dumbledore smirked at the comment about Malfoy, indeed that child had a knack for trouble, "Yes, that's the one."

"But, Madam Pomfrey told me, I was infection free….so-"

"I wasn't finished yet Miss Granger. Indeed Poppy told you that you were free of infections, however, she did show me something quite odd about your test results." Dumbledore paused again, waiting for some sort of a reaction from the Head Girl.

"Odd?" She tilted her head in confusion.

"Yes, as you should know, when your blood is tested with the Infectious Diagnosis charm, the blood will turn blue if you're infected, and remain red if your blood is fine. However, your results were neither colour." He drew in a breath as he stared Hermione straight in the eyes. "Your blood, Miss Granger, turned a light shade emerald green."

"Green?" Hermione gasped, "But Professor, I still don't understand!"

"Please let me explain." He eased, "I was quite shocked myself, knowing that you came from a muggle family- but you see the charm we used only works on pure-blooded wizards all they way to muggle-borns; however when the charm comes in contact with Veela or half-Veela blood, it turns forest green, or a light shade of emerald."

"It's impossible, though! I understand the concept of this charm that you use, but how could my blood possibly turn emerald green?!?" She gasped, almost in a panic state.

"That was my thought exactly. So I've been doing some research… and just last week I found the answer to the riddle. Your birth father is a Veela… and your mother was a muggle." Dumbledore said calmly.

"Don't you mean my father _was_ a Veela?" She frowned suddenly.

"This is where things get more complicated for you to comprehend Miss Granger. Because… Your biological father is still alive." He sighed at the horror stricken expression plastered on her face, "I don't know all the details, but I do know that at one point in time your mother and Mr. Darien Valhalla came together with _fornication_."

Hermione frowned at the Professors words; she wasn't stupid. She _knew_ what **to fornicate** meant. To have **sex**! Inside she was fuming, yet no words could find her lips- instead, her insides burned with anger.

Couldn't he just bloody say, 'your mother and some stranger had a one night stand'?!

"I know this is a lot for you to take in; considering the circumstances." He sighed heavily, "However, The Valhalla's have agreed to take you in to their family. Your biological father had no idea your mother gave birth to you; and he is more than willing to take you in and get to know you."

Hermione frowned at this and glanced up at Dumbledore, "He didn't know?"

Dumbledore shook his head, "He feels rather guilty once he found out the situation at hand, and he's insisting that you stay with them for Christmas." Dumbledore added. "So, I've arranged Professor Snape to escort you to the Valhalla's Manor after this meeting."

Her body and emotions were numb; she didn't know what to think. In fact she wasn't even thinking clearly; this all made no sense.

* * *

Hermione found herself standing outside the doors of a large mansion (beside Snape), which was set on 17 acres of property.

Tears were brimming in her eyes as she found her gaze locked on the welcome mat. Snape had already apparated all of her belonging from the Granger's house to here, so she needed no bag to carry.

"Miss Granger." Snape spoke before he knocked on the door.

"Yes Professor?" Hermione mumbled back, but kept her gaze downward.

Snape glanced at her from the corner of his eye before staring back at the door and knocking, "Things _will_ get better."

Hermione found herself staring back up at Snape; somehow his words were comforting. Yes, she still loathed him as her Potions teacher; but if he was able to push aside their differences and comfort her with a mere civil sentence (which had never happened in the years that she was in his class), she could have the decency to believe him.

"Thank you sir…" She murmured quietly, staring back down at the mat, just as the doors swung open.

"Serverus!" A tall woman had answered the door. She was beautiful; much more beautiful than those Veela's that danced at the Quiddich World Cup. She had white-gold, long hair, and a soft, creamy skin complexion that had a faint glow to it, and made her bright blue eyes stand out like sapphires.

"Evening, Callisto." Snape nodded back, as he and Hermione followed the woman inside the mansion.

"I didn't think you would be coming this late! I don't even look decent." She pouted as she looked down at her lavender night-gown.

Snape smirked, "Yes, well Dumbledore needed to talk to Miss Granger about the situation first…"

"Oh yes! Oh good Lord, I'm terribly sorry!" Callisto halted at once and turned to face Hermione, "Where are my manners? You must be Hermione!" She beamed.

Hermione nodded, _'Do you see any other fucking 17 year old orphan around here?'_ She thought bitterly.

Callisto smiled softly, "I'm Callisto Valhalla… Come, come, I'll show you to your room dear!" She said affectionately, before turning to Snape, "Serverus, Darien is in the lounge, you know the way, don't you?"

Snape nodded, with a hint of a smile, before leaving Hermione to follow Callisto up the stairs to her new room.

They passed about a dozen doors (whether they were bedrooms or not, she couldn't tell, they were all closed) before they got to hers. Callisto swung the door open, "Here we are." She smiled lightly, "I hope it's suitable enough."

Suitable was an understatement.

Her room was bigger than the room she had at Hogwarts, much more fancier with silk and satin sheets, a feather down blanket, real golden rods that held a sheer canopy over her bed, her own walk in closest, her own bathroom, which she didn't have to share with Malfoy. And the room, it smelt like spring, it was so relaxing, she could easily fall asleep now. (but that would be rude)

"It's more than enough." She gasped out, and noticed that most of her belongings were in the room, all of her muggle stuff and magic. And her clothing only filled about a quarter of her walk in closet.

"While you get settled, I'll go tell Darien you've arrived, and I'll send one of my sons to come get you." Callisto smiled softly, before leaving Hermione alone to collect her thoughts.

She wasn't in her room long, before a young teenage boy stood in her doorway. He was about her age, and he seemed well built and muscular. He certainly wasn't bad looking; white-gold hair like his mother, and piercing green eyes.

"You're Hermione right?"

Hermione nodded.

"The names Zane." He grinned, "Come on, I'm suppose to take you down to the living room." He gestured her to follow him, which she did silently.

Once in the living room, Zane took a seat beside his older brother, who had dark hair and bright blue eyes. Snape stood in a corner, surveying the scene in silence, while Callisto and the man Hermione figured to be Darien, sat on the couch; leaving Hermione to sit in a lone chair across from the couple.

Darien smiled hesitantly, "Do you know who I am Hermione?"

"Darien Valhalla…my biological father…" She muttered quietly, staring down into her lap.

Darien nodded, "And Dumbledore, I presume, has informed you that you will be staying with us from now on; like once you finish year last year at Hogwarts." He asked softly.

Hermione nodded again, not daring to glance up at him, "Yes…"

"However, there is one thing Dumbledore didn't tell you, that you should know." Callisto interrupted, noticing that her Husband was stalling. When Hermione glanced up and made eye contact with Callisto, she continued, "Darien has made a deal with a family by the name of Malfoy, that our first born girl child is to marry their son…" She paused a moment.

Hermione now had her full attention on Callisto; seeing this, the Veela woman continued softly, "Unfortunately, Darien and I have only been able to conceive, my two sons, Zane and Lex." She glanced at her two sons and genuinely smiled, "So since you are indeed Darien's daughter, and still have Veela blood flowing through your veins… you are to be betrothed to the Malfoy's son."

"Wh-what?!" She sputtered, completely horrified. Even Snape now was staring at the Valhalla's like they were bloody mad.

"Do you have any questions?" Callisto asked innocently.

She suddenly glared at Darien; the idea of marriage faded from her mind, and a sudden thought spilled from her lips before she could contain herself, "Did you even know my mother? Or was she just another bloody one night stand?!" She asked angrily.

Darien however, remained calm and collected; he seemed to understand her outburst, "I did indeed know Anna Granger…" He sighed, "She was my best friend." He admitted.

Hermione remained silent, as she glared at him; the simple look upon her face demanded an explanation; while Snape remained in the corner listening intently.

"It's only fair that you know the truth." He huffed in defeat, "I've known your mother since we were teenagers. She was the one who introduced me to Callisto- her best friend. I found it strange that a muggle knew about Veela, but it seemed Callisto's family and Anna's family had known each other for generations."

"She was like a sister to me…" Callisto murmured softly, letting her husband continue.

"Most of that night was a vague memory, we went to a party and people got drunk. Anna and your father had been married for about ten months at the time, while Callisto and I had been together for a long while, because Lex was only about 13 months old." He sighed, "Basically, when we woke up, she was devastated and she begged me to do a memory charm on her for that night, so things between us wouldn't be awkward…"

"We couldn't really say no to Anna. She was so distraught, it was rather sad. She tried to convince him to erase her memory of the Valhalla family all together, because she felt so guilty. But_ I_ would have none of that…." Callisto interrupted firmly.

"I had no idea, that what happened that night had lead to your birth Hermione… Not until Dumbledore showed up at my doorstep seventeen years later, informing me of their death, and of your identity

"So my parents had no idea either... They died believing I was their child?" Hermione asked sadly, although inside she was somewhat relived her parents didn't intentionally lie to her.

"Yes."

Suddenly the thought of marriage crossed her mind again, and she began to panic, "How many children do the Malfoy Family have?!"

"Just one; your fiancée. Draco Malfoy." Callisto smiled broadly, "Would you know him? I hear he attends Hogwarts as well."

Hermione felt her stomach churn and her chest tighten with anguish; tears pricked the back of her eyes threatening to trickle down her cheeks. She nodded numbly, as she stared at the coffee table, just wishing someone would finally wake her from this dream- this … this … this** nightmare!**

She shut her eyes tight and waited for her mom, to come into her bed room and open the curtains wide, telling her to get up, and get ready to go to Diagon Alley. But her mother's sweet voice never came to her rescue. Her parents _really_ were gone… and she was _really_ to be engaged to the **Slytherin prick.**

"Hermione, are you feeling alright? You look deathly pale!" Callisto suddenly gasped.

"I just need to lie down… ex-excuse me." She slowly forced herself to get to her feet, and carried her trembling body back upstairs to her new room, collapsing on the bed, letting out dishevelled sobs that shook her body.

_'I'd rather be in the bloody Head common room, than here. Screw the fact that I would be alone; it would have been ten times better than here.' _Hermione thought angrily, clenching her teeth and balling her hands into fists.

* * *

So far Christmas Eve wasn't too bad for Draco. He and his family visited the Valhalla's Mansion like they did every Holiday. It was tradition. The Malfoy's and the Valhalla's _always_ spent holidays together.

This was the Veela family he was betrothed to. Basically, when the Valhalla's gave birth to a girl (which was highly unlikely) he would eventually have to marry her. But it was pointless for him to even care, because they had two sons; Zane (his best friend) who was 17 like Draco, and Lex was just turning 19 in two months.

There would be no girl Veela born anytime soon.

Draco himself was half-Veela (it came from his mothers side of the family) so it only made sense for him to marry a Veela.

Draco opened Zane's door to see him lying on his bed, throwing a muggle basketball against the wall; he looked utterly bored.

Draco folded his arms and smirked at Zane, "If you're planning on knocking that wall down, your going to need to throw a lot harder than that." He laughed,

"Nice to see you too, Draco." Zane teased back, rolling his eyes. He caught the ball and sat up, "So have you heard?" He smirked at the blonde Slytherin, tossing him the ball.

"Heard what?" Draco frowned, as he spun the ball on his index finger; making it look easy.

"You're_ finally_ going to be my brother-in-law." Zane was now grinning from ear to ear as he watched Draco drop the ball.

"What?! How?!" Draco's face paled, "Callisto can't be pregnant with a girl!"

"No, mum's no pregnant, you idiot!" Zane rolled his eyes, "Just found out, my Dad knocked up his best friend be accident then cast a memory charm on her afterwards."

Draco frowned at this.

"Yeah; So when the girl was born, Dad didn't know. But I guess he parents died recently, so she was brought to her biological father. The poor girl, never even knew she was half-Veela." Zane shrugged nonchalantly.

Draco sat wide-eyed at the information, "So you're telling me, by chance, I know have to marry some chick, who is your half-sister?!"

"Yup. But I don't really know much about her, she's been her for about a week, and she's super quiet. She won't even bloody talk."

God, now Draco felt sick. He knew he was to be betrothed **if **the Valhalla's had a girl, but he seriously thought he was out of a marriage ounce he found out the genealogical mix of the two Veela only allowed Callisto to conceive males. He hated the idea that he would spend the rest of his life with some chick he didn't even know.

"Fuck! And how old is she, do you even know?" Draco asked hopefully.

"I don't know; I think she's around our age." Zane shrugged casually, smirking at his best friend.

"Well, I'm glad you're amused by my misfortune." He muttered sarcastically, glaring at Zane from the corner of his eye.

"It's my job!" Zane laughed, "Besides I don't know why you're so uptight. You knew this could have happened. It _was_ the promise between families."

"Whatever Zane. I'm still not pleased with the fact that I'm being forced to marry anyone!" Draco huffed dryly.

**_"Dinner!"_**

Lazily, Zane and Draco left his room and headed towards the stairs, but both stopped as the bedroom door beside Zane's bedroom opened; and out stepped the girl whom Draco was betrothed to.

**"GRANGER?!"**

**"MALFOY?!"**

* * *

**AN:** mwehehehe, the next chappie shud be up soon. Gotta love it when ur ideas are already on paper I hope u liked this one. It took forever to make flow.

**Read and Review **please

Thnx again for all your support and great reviews.

**_L8ter Dayz_**

mystic-water


	5. He Stole Everything

**AN:** Sorry it took so long. My computer got fucked up again. Anywho I am so amazed at how many reviews I got for chap 4, I'm hoping this chap will be just as good

**THIS CHAP HAS BEEN EDITED** **_thnx to megan! thnx so much gurl for pointing out that the older veel a son was named Lex not Riley. Major typo. srry bout that!_**

Oh yes, quite a few of you were asking what a _Veela _was. It's quite apparent you haven't read the fourth book… Well, I suppose I should explain what a Veela is, so you can better understand the story line.

**Veela's** were introduced in the fourth Harry Potter Book, when Harry went to the Quidditch World Cup. They were the **_Bulgarian Team Mascots_**, and this is where Harry gets to see them for the first time.

I have provided a piece from the fourth book, which J.K.Rowling explains what the Veela are…

(Please note I do** not** own any of the following. Harry Potter and its plot will **always** belong to Miss Rowling!)

> **Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire** – Chap 8 – The Quidditch World Cup – Bottom of Page 93
> 
> But a hundred Veela were now gliding onto the pitch, and Harry's question was answered for him. Veela were women … the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen … except that they weren't – they couldn't be – human. This puzzled Harry for a moment, while he tried to guess what exactly they could be; what could make their skin shine moon-bright like that, or their white-gold hair fan out behind them without wind … but then the music started, and Harry stopped worrying about them not being human – in fact he stopped worrying about anything at all.
> 
> The Veela had started to dance, and Harry's mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was the he kept watching the Veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things would happen …
> 
> And as the Veela danced faster and faster, wild, half-formed thoughts started chasing through Harry's dazed mind. He wanted to do something very impressive, right now. Jumping from the box into the stadium seemed a good idea … but would it be good enough?

That's all Rowling really gave us to go on. So basically they are stunningly beautiful people-like creatures. And when they dance, they use their hypnotic powers to make people do crazy things. _(Like jump into the Quidditch stadium…)_

Anywho… lets continue THIS story shall we?

**_OWTF… _**_(on with the fic**)**_

* * *

He Stole Everything (chap 5)

* * *

"What the hell are _you _doing here?!" They both found themselves screaming at one another.

"I live here!" Hermione growled bitterly, as a sudden wave of nausea rushed over her body when she remembered that she was now speaking to her fiancé.

"Well I'm here for dinner!" Draco resorted back and was about to say something malicious towards the Mudblood, when Hermione's words hit him. _'I live here.' _He glared at the girl he had grown to hate over the past seven years at Hogwarts, "What do you mean, you _live _here?"

He watched as Hermione winced and glanced down at her feet, her hair covering her face from Draco's view. "Dammit Granger I'm talking to you, you stupid Mudblood! Tell me what you mean!"

Zane scratched the back of his neck sheepishly at Draco's behaviour, "Umm… Draco, this is your fiancée" He paused as he watched Draco grow utterly pale and completely horrified, "I take it you both don't need introductions…"

"Unless you're going to introduce him as a stupid ferret boy. There is no need." She suddenly hissed, glaring daggers at the Slytherin Prince who stood across from her.

"Stupid Mudblood-"

"Watch your tongue Malfoy!" Hermione hissed dangerously, "I'm not a Mudblood anymore! I never have been."

"She has a point Draco…" Zane added quietly.

"Shut up Zane!" Draco yelled angrily, storming down the stairs. "And she's _not_ my fiancée!"

Hermione glared at Draco's retreating figure, "Stupid Git. There is no way in hell I'm marrying _that_!" She huffed.

At this point she felt like she could cry for hours. Everything was falling apart; first her parents die, then she finds out she's a half-Veela that's engaged to the stupid prick of a Head Boy, whom she shares a common room with at Hogwarts. God was she frustrated.

She huffed deeply to prevent herself from screaming out loud.

"Hermione." Zane said pensively, "We should go downstairs for dinner."

She nodded numbly, following her half-brother downstairs to the Dining Room.

* * *

Hermione and Draco both sat in silence, occasionally throwing glares at one another.

She sighed and stared down at her plate. It was untouched; she wasn't at all hungry. Just the presence of Draco made the whole betrothing feel too real it scared her. She could tell Lucius was completely surprised to see Hermione Granger as the girl to wed his son; the same girl who he had known as the Mudblood girl friend of Harry Potter.

"Draco dear, aren't you going to eat anything?" Narcissa asked worriedly, glancing at her son, "Don't be rude Draco, at least have some of it!"

Draco reluctantly put some food in his mouth; probably just to keep his mom from nagging at him. Callisto too, had noticed that Hermione wasn't eating either, but she left Hermione alone, knowing that she hadn't been eating much since the loss of her parents anyway.

Narcissa glanced at Callisto, "So, when do you suppose, would be the appropriate time to have the wedding, then?"

"Before her 18th birthday." Darien suddenly said as he glanced at Lucius who nodded in agreement.

"And they are to have a child before she turns 19." Lucius added, and this time Darien nodded.

"Have it all planned out don't you?" Callisto teased lightly.

"That was the arrangement in the beginning." Lucius shrugged.

"Fair enough, darling." Narcissa smiled lightly.

This conversation continued on for about 45 minutes. And with each passing second, both Draco and Hermione grew paler. They occasionally glanced at one another, with the same mutual upset feeling exchanged from them both. They both huffed deeply, glancing away from one another.

Hermione sat in a stunned silence, staring down at her plate once more. She had loss her appetite completely; in fact she felt so bloody sick. Her stomach was churning and her breath was short. She nearly gasped as she watched a tear fall onto her plate.

"Hermione?" Callisto asked tenderly.

Hermione glanced up, to see the whole table staring at her… including Draco.

More tears spilled from her eyes, "Excuse me." She whispered faintly, as she found her feet running to her new room and collapsing on the bed.

She cried into her pillow as tears of anger and sorrow soaked into her pillow. First she lost her parents, and now she lost her right to fall in love and marry a man that loved her back.

She cried harder, clutching onto her pillow. _'Come back… please… Mom… Dad… Don't let this happen… please.'_

"Come back!" She suddenly screamed out loud, as her angry tears spilled off her cheeks and trickled down her chin.

* * *

Hermione had been lying there for quite sometime before she heard her door open.

"Granger?"

She sniffed at his voice. Her tears were gone now. But now she was exhausted from crying, and she had a throbbing headache from the stress. Why couldn't he just leave her alone? He already had her secret about the Dark Mark, and now he had her as a wife, not to mention her virginity; what more could he want?!

She felt the end of the bed sink, as he sat at her feet, "Dammit Granger! You think I'm happy about this either?" He huffed angrily.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You sure know the right words to charm a girl, don't you Malfoy?" She hissed back sarcastically.

Draco smirked, "Yeah I know. Pansy thinks so too."

Hermione rolled on her back so she could glare at him, "Pansy your slut." She growled.

"Not anymore, now you are." Draco said nonchalantly.

Hermione's eyes narrowed at him, "I will never be a slut; that's Pansy's job, **_not_** mine!" She said angrily, "And **_never _**refer to me as _yours_!!" and with that, she threw her pillow at his face with such force he fell off the bed, and landed on his back on the floor.

Draco sat up, glaring up at her, "_That_, was uncalled for, Granger!" he suddenly smirked as he threw the pillow back at her head.

"Malfoy!"

"You started it," Draco shrugged as he got to his feet, only to fall back down when two pillows hit his face.

"Well then I guess I finished it too!" She snickered, turning on her side, so her back faced him.

"I think not!" Draco smirked as he threw the pillows back at her, hitting her head and back.

Within seconds, a pillow fight had started; pillows were flying, and feathers were everywhere. Hermione screeched as a pillow whizzed past her head.

"Malfoy!" She screamed angrily, throwing the pillow back, hitting him square in the chest.

She let out a sudden gasp as Draco pounced on her, pinning her on her bed. "I think I win Granger." He smirked coolly, trying to ignore the closeness between them.

"You cheated." She whispered back, letting her head relax into her pillow in an attempt to pull further away from Draco.

"Malfoy's _never_ cheat…" Draco whispered back, leaning in to the point where their hot breath mingled with each other.

_'Malfoy … He's not … no … he cant …_' her mind began to panic, but her voice was lost and her body was paralyzed from his hard stare.

"Draco! We're leaving!"

Draco jolted away, jumping off the bed; both broken from that awkward trance from Narcissa's voice. Yet they continued to stare at one another, completely shocked at what _nearly _happened.

"Draco dear, are you coming!?"

"Yeah…" He teared his eyes off of her, leaving her alone and confused.

Hermione sat up suddenly, staring wide-eyed at the empty doorway. _'We … we almost … No …'_

"NO!!" She let out a frustrated scream, falling back on her pillow; tears spilling again. She wished everything could return to normal; back when he parents were alive, when she was still a Mudblood, when Malfoy was her enemy, not her fiancé … when things made sense!

"Hermione, are you still crying?" a voice broke her dishevelled thoughts, causing her to sit up slightly to find Lex standing in her doorway.

She sniffed and nodded, wiping her tears from her eyes angrily. He sighed and took a seat on her bed; gently brushing his hand through her hair, in an attempt to calm her.

"It's just not fair, Lex!" She huffed, "I don't care if I was a Mudblood, at least back then I knew who I was!" She sobbed, as she turned over and clutched her pillow. Her heart ached, and her body trembled. "Now I'll never have a chance to fall in love and marry a man who loves me…" She sniffed.

"What about Draco?" Lex asked quietly; he knew she was hurting, but there was nothing to be done to fix this mess.

"_Malfoy_ and I have hated each other since we were 11!" She cried angrily, saying his name with such spite and malice it gave Lex shivers. "And now I'm supposed to give everything that belongs to me, to _him_!" She gritted her teeth angrily, before spinning around to glare at her half-brother, "**My **virginity, **my** children, **my** life! Everything!"

"Hermione…"

She let out another frustrated scream, before spinning back around to sob into her pillow, "Why didn't Voldemort just kill me too?!" She yelled into her pillow, "How is my suffering affecting Harry? He doesn't feel my pain!" She sobbed.

"Your parents died protecting you, just as did the Potters for Harry. They wouldn't want their children dead, Hermione." He whispered softly, "Besides, if you give Draco time, you won't regret marrying him…"

"But-"

"Yes, I know he's an ass sometimes." Lex cut her short, but smirked when Hermione snorted about _'sometimes'_. "But, if you become his wife, he will love and protect you. It's the way of the Veela. Your part Veela too… trust me the attraction will grow much stronger whether either of you like it or not." He smirked.

And with that, Lex left Hermione alone to recollect her thoughts.

Hermione glared at her door, 'How could I love someone who has stolen everything that belongs to me?' She snorted at the thought, _'Honestly Lex, your head is too far up your own arse to realise its impossible for me and Malfoy to work.' _She stubbornly turned over on her side staring sadly at the wall, _'Seven years of hate... could never possibly turn into love.'_

She suddenly sighed heavily, tears clouding her vision. _'I miss being a Mudblood.'_

* * *

A seventeen year old boy tossed in his restless sleep. The sun peered through soft sheer emerald mesh around the bed, dancing and flickering across his face, as if trying to wake him. His eyes and nose scrunched up in frustration; his blonde hair with soft highlights glistened in the late afternoon sun. He had gone to bed, with a throbbing headache the night before.

Greyish blue eyes flashed open, as the boy sat up straight glancing around his bedroom. He sat in his queen sized bed, with deep green silk and satin sheets, with soft white feather pillows. Silver rods held a sheer canopy over the bed, granting him privacy, yet sunlight still managed to peer its way through the semitransparent material. And beside it, a night table with an expensive lamp from Bulgaria.

Draco groaned as he rubbed his temples slightly. That throbbing headache was still searing through his head.

"What a night!" Draco groaned before glaring out at the window, "Stupid Mudblood."

He glanced at his digital clock; 6am.

He let out a huff, falling back on his pillow. "Bloody hell… Tell me that was all a nightmare!"

"Draco! Get up! The Valhalla's are coming over this morning for Christmas breakfast; and try to look decent, they are bringing your fiancée!" He heard his father yell from downstairs. "DRACO!"

"I'm up!" Draco yelled back resentfully. "Fuck… I'm not dreaming."

The Slytherin Prince forced himself to get up and get ready, as he made his way to the washroom. "I'll look decent. But it's _not_ going to be for that pathetic bookworm!" He huffed stubbornly, as he got into the shower.

He let the hot water wash over his body, letting the heat of the droplets ease his muscles (which he had developed over the years at Hogwarts with his Quidditch practices).

He tilted his head up letting the water wash over his face. _'Of all people, I'm stuck marrying the pathetic Mud-'_

He shook his head, letting the water fly off his hair and face, "Shit… I can't even call her that anymore…"

Draco groaned, as he turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a green towel around his waist. He let his hand slide through his wet hair, in an attempt to calm his nerves. "Dammit… This is fucked…" his fists clenched, "I can't marry her! I can't!" he buried his face in his hands wishing that it was all one big nightmare.

"Wake up Draco! Wake up!!!" He growled at himself. But still, there he stood, soaking wet, frustrated in the reality of his fears. He wasn't dreaming. This was bloody real.

He glared up at his reflection in the mirror, "Merry Fucking Christmas, Draco." He said spitefully, before slamming the bathroom door open, and returning to his room to get dressed.

He dressed into black jeans, and a loose fitting green muscle shirt, before heading downstairs to find his mother, and Callisto in the kitchen … making breakfast.

_'Oh yeah, we gave the servants and the house elves the day off for Christmas._' Draco slowly entered the kitchen, preparing to sit at the table. "Morning Mother… Mrs Valhalla." He yawned, but smiled politely none the less.

Callisto turned around with a smile on her pretty face, "Oh Draco! There you are! Lex and Zane are out back flying on their brooms … And I think Hermione's in the study." She winked playfully; most likely purposely forgetting how much the two hated each other.

Draco nodded before glancing at his mother who was flipping French Toast on the stove. "Where is Father and Mr Valhalla?" He asked.

Narcissa glanced back at her son, "They are keeping Serverus company in the living room; talking business most likely." She smiled.

"Professor Snape is here?!" Draco glanced back in the direction of the living room.

"Yes, but it would be best not to disturb them." Narcissa said nonchalantly.

Draco nodded, before leaving his mother and Callisto alone to cook breakfast. He walked down the hall to the study, and stood in the doorway to indeed, find Hermione sitting on the rug by the fire, reading a book in silence.

"Hn, leave it to Granger to find the books." He smirked, as he stared down at her.

Hermione glanced up at Draco and frowned lightly, "What do you want, Malfoy?" she huffed exhaustedly.

Draco shrugged, as he sat down at his father's desk, putting up his feet haughtily.

"You're such an arrogant prick." Hermione muttered, before returning to her book; trying her best to ignore Draco.

Draco smirked at this, but then glanced at Hermione, as if he was studying her. "Granger, do you know what day it is?" Draco asked suddenly; catching her gaze in his piercing greyish blue eyes.

"It's Friday, Malfoy." She said offhandedly, letting out a deep exhale. Not that it mattered; Winter Vacation was one long weekend anyway.

"No. That's not what I meant..." He trailed off for a moment, "Its Christmas, Granger."

A tiny _"oh" _escaped her lips, as the pain in the depths of her sad brown eyes deepened, "I had nearly forgotten..." she admitted softly, forcing a soft meek yet fake smile, trying to blink away some tears, failing horribly.

It was true. She was far too busy, worrying about her situation with the Malfoy's, and the new discovery about her blood to care about anything else.

Her lips were trembling and her shoulders were shaking.

"Granger," he said softly, catching her attention. She gave a tiny gasp as Draco stood up and walked over and sat down beside her. He frowned and wiped her tears.

"Geez Granger." he laughed lightly trying to ease the awkwardness, "I realise this is your first Christmas without your parents, there is no need to cry, you aren't alone."

Ok that made her mad. She was an orphan; she _was_ all alone - Voldemort killed her parents, she had every right to cry her heart out if her pride let her.

A loud echoing crack broke the silence. Hermione was huffing angrily, and Draco looked in utter shock as he touched his stinging red throbbing cheek. Hermione Granger had slapped him hard, just like she did in third year.

Yup, definitely a strong right hand, he rubbed his cheek, "Dammit Granger, what was _that_ for?" Draco scowled; she had some power, and one hell of a swing.

"**_Not alone_**?! In case you haven't realized, I'm a bloody orphan, Malfoy!" She spat his name angrily, but she _really_ wasn't mad at him - she was mad at herself - mad at Voldemort for stealing all of her happiness - she _was_ alone - Draco was wrong, she would always be alone.

Draco seemed unfazed by her outburst; in fact when she went to open her mouth the rant some more, Draco placed a single finger on her lips - silencing her. "Granger," he said again, "I'm here with you aren't I? Spending Christmas with another isn't considered _alone_, is it?" He asked gently.

More tears formed in her hallow eyes; Draco found Hermione collapsing in his arms, holding onto him as if he were her only hope to ease her pain, "I miss them so much Malfoy-" she mumbled into his chest.

"Yeah, but now you have a new family." Draco said, as his body went tense, "Besides, if we are to be married, you'll never be alone." He added, but suddenly found him self being pushed roughly away from Hermione.

"You bastard!" She screamed suddenly, "Just because I have Darien's blood, does not make me his daughter! Meaning I will never marry you!"

"Granger! There is nothing we can do about that! We can't get out of it!" Draco yelled back. "Don't you think I haven't been thinking of a way to get us out of it?!"

"Well that's a shock; I didn't think you were actually that smart!" Hermione resorted back.

"Don't be a bitch Granger!" Draco snarled back. Hermione sent him a nasty look, before storming out onto the balcony, folding her arms stubbornly. "Oh come off it, Granger! I'm not impressed about our _situation_ either! But there is nothing we can do!" He huffed as he approached the balcony, "It's an arranged marriage between pureblood families; with Veela children no less! Do you have any idea how strong that bond is-?"

"I'm not stupid Malfoy!" Hermione spat back cutting him off, glaring back at him, "I've been reading up on it!"

"Well then, what is your bloody problem?!" Draco growled angrily.

"I'm **not** marrying you! I won't! There is no way in hell!" Hermione screamed.

"You think I want to marry you either, Mudblood?!" Draco yelled back, ignoring the fact that she wasn't a Mudblood anymore.

"I'm not a Mudblood!" She screamed back, tears falling from her face, "Don't call me that!" She cried angrily, "Stop mocking me!"

"Mocking you?" Draco stumbled back as she continued to scream at him, "How am I bloody mocking you?"

"You know I don't want to be a Veela! I'd give anything to be a Mudblood again!" She gritted her teeth angrily, just as Callisto, Narcissa, Darien, Lucius, and Snape came running into the study.

"What's all the yelling about?" Lucius demanded, as he glared at the Gryffindor and the Slytherin teens.

"I'm _not_ marrying him!" Hermione screamed angrily, "You can not make me!" She hissed.

"You have no choice, Miss Valhalla." Lucius said sharply, glaring at the girl.

She wasn't sure what possessed her to do it, but suddenly she found her wand in her hand, aimed at Lucius Malfoy's heart, her body was shaking in a sudden rage, "Don't call me that!" She hissed icily, "Just because Darien is my biological parent, it does not make him worthy of my _real_ father's name."

"Hermione-" Darien tried to calm her, but the wand was suddenly aimed at him too.

"Don't talk to me!" She said dangerously, "You were never there for me, in my seventeen years of growing up. And I don't care if you did not know I belonged to you. Just because I share your blood, does not give you any right to control me, or my will!" She glared suddenly at Draco who seemed stunned by this sadistic Hermione, "I will _not_ marry him. I will _neve_r belong to Draco Malfoy. And I will _never_ be your daughter!" She screamed angrily. "My parents are **dead**! _Dead!_ And I am an orphan! I belong to **no one**!"

Hermione was now huffing violently, before her eyes darted back to a stunned Serverus   
Snape, "Professor, take me back to Hogwarts please. If you don't I will run away, and you will have to deal with Dumbledore." She threatened.

Snape huffed, as he glanced at the stunned Malfoy and Valhalla families, "Forgive me; but the Headmaster would not want Miss Granger out on her own; and I'm sure this is very stressful on her." He sighed reluctantly.

The Malfoy's and the Valhalla's nodded silently, as they stared warily at the girl who stood in front of them. She was trembling with anger and stress, as tears fell from her face and trickled down her chin and neck.

Her body and mind may have been broken in grief; but Hermione Granger was certainly not defeated.

* * *

**AN:** _phew_, what a long and tense chap. ah well, I enjoyed writing it. I hope u all like it. But don't worry this isn't the end of the D/H relationship. Oh no!

I'll have more twists. And yes they are still engaged. Even Hermione's little fit can't get rid of something as official as their betrothing.

**Next chap:** Hermione spends the rest of the vacation at Hogwarts with some unexpected people. Hermione learns what happens to her body when a half-Veela comes of age. Hehehehe! _::winks:: _Cant give away too much of next chap. This is just something you can look forward to next chap.

**Read and Review!** _Thanks!_

L8ter Days

mystic-water


	6. The Reality of Things

**AN:** sorry it took soo long, my compu fucking crashed again so now im stuck using my dads compu. So I made it long for the apology ;

* * *

The Reality of Things (chap 6)

* * *

Hermione now sat in the Head common room of Hogwarts; she was exhausted from the few days she had spent with the Valhalla's. She had no idea, that the mere thought of marriage could be so stressful; mind you, she was _betrothed_ to a certain **Slytherin Prick**, to make things all the better.

It was late Christmas Evening now. Snape had brought her back to Hogwarts just as the Christmas Feast had begun. It was nice to have a holiday meal at Hogwarts. The school was like her second home.

She sat on the couch, reading again. Only this time, she was reading something useful. A book with everything you needed to know about Veelas.

She sighed, as she continued on to Chapter 3, **_The Veela Renaissance;_**__

"**HISTORY:** The Veelas, also known as the Vila; the Eastern European name for _"the Goddess of energy moving through the earth as nature"_ - live mostly in Eastern mountains and forests. They were born from the primordial worship of the Great Mother in Her warrior aspect.

The Veelas prowled the land from Scythia in the south to the Capland in the north sharing dominion with their cousins the **Valkyries** _(Amazon-like warrior women who ride flying horses – refer to chapter 1_). They enjoy their most satisfying relationships with trolls. The Veelas are extremely given over to honour and battle.

Eastern legends are rich in the lore of the woman warrior: many of the Slavic cultures of Eastern Europe reckon their descent from the sons born of Amazon mating raids, with fighting blood running hot from both sides of their parentage."

Hermione huffed as she continued on ward. So far it was pretty straight forward; Nothing too special to pay attention to. She skipped a few pages to Chapter 6, **_In depth Attributes; _**before something interesting caught her eye.

"**APPEARANCE ATTITUDE:** The Veela are generally tall and straight, well muscled and fair, with white skin and flashing eyes, normally in shades of grey and pale blue. Their voices tend to be low and musical, their smiles rare except in the heat of battle, where their laughter and war cries frequently ring out.

They move with the grace common to wild animals and warriors, preferring the colors white and silver above all others, and frequently wielding elaborately carved bows that display their status and firing silver arrows that kill painlessly with one shot.

Silver hair is rare among them and much prized as a result, considered a sign of favour from the Great Goddess.

The Veela can be grim but not humorless, fierce, loyal to those who can command their loyalty, and deeply loving.

There are no male Veela."

This is what caught Hermione off guard. _'No male Veela…' _She frowned at this. Then how could Darien and Draco be considered as Veela as well? Perhaps Dumbledore would know. She would need to look further into this.

However, this information was not what she was looking for. She continued to skip pages and a few chapters which explained more detailed history of the Veela and their cousins the Valkyries, as well with brief encounters with their distant Amazon cousins.

Most of it was quite intriguing, but she found what she was looking for in Chapter 7, **_Lifestyles of Veela;_**

"**RITUALS** - _BETROTHING: _In some cases, The Veela and their partner will decide to arrange a marriage for their young. They will do this for a few reasons; to ensure the continuation of a blood line, of fear of the declining population of Veela, or as a mere tradition passed down from generations. If a betrothing occurs, it occurs as a bond of promises that can not be broken. The promise of marriage is eternally sealed, and breaking such an agreement can occur with colossal damages. _(i.e., spells and curses are set up and sealed upon a parchment that will cause some sort of pain to the engaged couple – consequences vary.)_"

"Figures… You're reading _again_." A clearly annoyed voice startled Hermione from her reading trance.

Hermione glanced up to find a sneering Draco Malfoy glaring down at her; arms crossed over his muscular chest. "What are _you _doing here?" She snapped bitterly.

"I live here Granger." He smirked, but huffed in defeat as Hermione narrowed her eyes at him, demanding a straight answer, "Alright, alright! Don't have a cow!" He muttered, "Father sent me back here. Our _parents_ are determined to get us to be civil to one another. So thanks to you, I'm ordered to spend the rest of the holidays with you."

"Don't call them my parents!" She hissed dangerously.

"Fine!" Draco snorted back, "But don't you even care? Or did you even hear a word past '_parents_'?"

"I heard you clearly, Malfoy." She huffed, "Now will you leave me alone, and go sulk else where- preferably your room!"

"No. I think, I'll pout right here." He smirked lazily at her, sitting down on the couch opposite to Hermione.

"You're such an arrogant ass." She muttered half to herself, as she continued to read the book.

After a moment of silence, Draco suddenly spoke up again, "You do know, even after your little **temper tantrum**; we are _still_ engaged." He said nonchalantly, avoiding her eyes, by pretending to examine his nails in an arrogant fashion.

"Yeah…" Hermione said sadly, before she glanced away from her book to glare at the arrogant looking Draco, before throwing the book at his head; and it hit him with a loud _'thump'_, that caused Hermione to grin smugly. "I know."

"**_Ow!_** For fucks sakes, Granger!" He glared at her before glancing at the book. "_The History of the Veela and the Valkyrie_." He raised an eye brow, glaring at a smirking Hermione. "You've read the whole book?"

"No," She huffed in an annoyed tone, "I have seven chapters to go yet." She glanced back at Draco to find him flipping through the book, "But I know our _situation_ is unavoidable."

"Unfortunately." Draco huffed, as he tossed the book on the coffee table.

"Yes, unfortunately…" Hermione sighed too, as the nauseating feeling in her stomach returned. There was no way out if this mess and Hermione knew it.

* * *

"Mom… Dad…" Hermione tossed in her sleep, as she continued to mumble muffled pleas into her pillow, "Please… No, stop…" She was soaked in sweat, her body trembling in fear, and her breath quickened immensely.

"**_NO!!!_**" She screamed, bolting upright trying to catch her breath from the relived nightmare.

Hermione drew in a deep breath, clutching her chest, trying to calm her trembling body and her aching heart that pound upon her ribcage painfully.

_Knock… Knock…_

She jumped slightly, as she glanced to the locked bathroom door.

"Granger? You okay in there?"

Hermione sighed at the voice – she must have woken him up while talking in her sleep; she briskly got up, and opened the door to see Draco standing in the doorway.

"You had that dream again didn't you?" He asked as he frowned slightly.

She nodded numbly, "I'm fine - huh?" Hermione gasped as Draco gently wiped away the tears from her cheeks. _'I never knew Malfoy could be so… gentle.' _She frowned slightly at Dracos incredulous look. _'**Malfoy** and** gentle** are two words that should never be used in the same sentence.'_

"Really?" Draco didn't even sound or look convinced.__

_'Ugh, even his tone is sceptical!' _She frowned further at this, before batting away his hand, "I said I was fine Malfoy!" She wiped away the remaining of her tears angrily, before turning to spin on her heel and walk away… well she _tried_ to.

"What the-?" Hermione glanced down; her feet would not move from their spot on the floor. "Malfoy can you move either?"

Draco frowned at this but tried lifting his foot none the less, "Uhhh…." He glanced back at Hermione sheepishly, when neither foot lifted from the ground.

It was as if a magical force was holding them to the ground.

_'Magical force? Shit!'_ The both thought in unison, before glancing up above their heads…. to find…

"_Fuck!_ You gotta be shitting me!" Draco yelled angrily.

"M-mistletoe?" Hermione stuttered, her eyes not leaving the green above them, in fear of looking into Draco's eyes.

"Magical Mistletoe…." Draco groaned, "We can't move until we kiss… One of Dumbledore's fucking traditional inventions for the holiday seasons."

Hermione stared wide-eyed at Draco, "What?!"

"Don't you remember? Dumbledore invented this last year!" Draco said hotly.

"No! Not that! We can't move until we _kiss_?!" Hermione sputtered out, staring at Draco like he was bloody-mad.

"Are you _deaf_?! Yes, that's what I think I said, Granger!" Draco said angrily.

A full yet deep blush spread across Hermione's cheeks, as she stubbornly glanced away from Draco. "There must be some other way…" she muttered quietly, completely flustered.

"This is a Dumbledore invention we are talking about Granger! There is no _other_ way!" Draco huffed reluctantly.

Hermione remained silent as she contemplated the situation at hand.

"**_Granger!_**" Draco snapped at her, bringing her out of her thoughts, "I am not standing here all night! I would like some sleep you know?"

Hermione glared at Draco grimly, "Fine." She said hotly, as she continued to glare daggers at him, "Do what you want." She huffed as she let her eyes fall close, waiting in reluctant silence.

Draco sighed heavily, as he leaned in a placed a gentle yet alluring kiss upon Hermione's lips; although it only lasted for a few mere moments, the feel of his lips on hers was beyond enticing to the point where Hermione needed to catch her breath when Draco pulled away.

For a moment her knees grew weak, causing her to stumble back, much to her relief. "It worked." She said softly, a wave of relief washed over her.

"Yeah…" Draco trailed off, as he tried to fight off the blush that threatened to wash over his face.

"Happy Christmas, Malfoy." Hermione whispered suddenly, before turning around, and getting back into her bed.

"Happy Christmas…" He whispered back barely audible, as he gently shut the bathroom door behind him.

* * *

Hermione awoke early the next morning with a familiar tingling sensation on her right shoulder... She frowned at this, _'I only get this feeling if Alex is near me… But she's at her aunts…'_

"Something's wrong." She whispered out loud to herself, before bolting up right in her bed, and struggling to get dressed, before scrambling all the way down to the Slytherin Common Room.

"_Cor Aurum_!" She shouted at the fat lady, as the portrait swung open.

And there, curled up on the common room couch, crying softly, was Alex. Her body was shaking – yet Hermione could not tell if it was from pain, fear or from the cold winter morning.

"Alex!" Hermione gasped, rushing to her friends' side. "_Alex!_ What's wrong?"

Alex turned over to stare up at Hermione; she coughed loudly, causing blood to spill from her lips. "Her- Hermione?" She wheezed out.

"Alex? What's wrong with you?!" Hermione asked desperately, as she watched Alex rub the blood from the side of her chin.

When Alex coughed again, Hermione's shoulder exploded in pain, causing her knees to buckle, and Hermione to scream out with the pain.

"Oh god, Hermione!" Alex gasped as she watched her friend clutch onto her right shoulder, "I'm so sorry Hermione." Alex cried weakly, before staggering to her feet, and running as fast as she could out of the Slytherin common room; leaving Hermione alone, confused, and in pain.

"Ow! Fuck!" Hermione gritted her teeth, the pain slowly fading away, allowing her to get to her feet. She continued to rub her shoulder where it tingled as she stared after the distraught Alex. _'What's going on with you Alex?'_

She sighed heavily, before leaving the Slytherin common room, and heading down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She slowly and weakly, stumbled her way down the corridors and up the stair cases to the Great Hall; and although it was the day after Christmas, all the decorations were still up.

She let out an exhausted sigh as she collapsed down on the bench of the only table in the Hall; for only one table was needed, because most if not all, students went home on the holidays. She glanced down to the Teachers Table, so see only Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, and Madam Sprout eating breakfast this early in the morning.

Hermione then surveyed the student's table… Alex was no where to be seen… in fact Hermione was nearly the only student up at this hour… nearly.

"I didn't think you usually get up this early, Granger."

Hermione glanced up, as Draco took a seat somewhat across from her. "I'm not…"

Draco shrugged it off as he dug into the French toast and eggs. Hermione exhaled deeply, as she nibbled on her buttered piece of toast in silence, before Draco spoke up again.

"I suppose, you've already owlled the Weasel and Pothead, informing them about our _situation_…" Draco said smoothly as he took a bite from his French toast.

"For your information I haven't, yet." She resorted back bitterly, "I'm planning on explaining it to them when they get back."

"Whatever."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at his tone. _'Arrogant, insufferable prick…'_

* * *

Classes had been in session for about a week now; but still Hermione had remained quiet about the _situation_. Maybe it was she was afraid of Ron and Harry's reaction when they found out she was to be married to their arch enemy…

Or maybe it was because she knew if she started explaining her new life to others, people would see her differently… after all she was no longer a muggle born; yet she still wanted people to believe that she was… it made things so much easier, and less painful, because they treated her no differently than they had been for the past seven years.

Could it be that she was just too afraid to admit to herself that their _situation_ was for real; and if she told Harry and Ron, it would confirm their marriage…?

Or was it the fact that she knew if she explained the situation, she might have to get in-depth of the night her parents were murdered… Each time she relived that night, it felt like a knife was twisting its way deeper into her heart; she couldn't bear to tell the story again… Malfoy knowing was bad enough. And- oh God, what would Harry do, if she finally delivered the message from Voldemort…. How would _he_ react?

_"Tell Potter, that this is a mere taste of what is to come, when I finally get my hands on him."_

Hermione shut her eyes tightly, as she tried to calm herself. Whatever it was that was holding her back from explaining her and Malfoy's _situation_ to Ron and Harry, she just couldn'tdo it.

She collected herself, and braced her outer body, putting on the mask of blithe and calmness back upon her face; she walked into Potions class, to see Harry and Ron already sitting in the second row. She took a seat in front of them, placing her books on the desk, before turning around to face the boys.

"Hey 'Mione, I'm shocked! We got here before you." Ron joked playfully.

Hermione forced a smile too, "Yeah, well I haven't been sleeping too well recently; so I almost slept in." She admitted sheepishly.

"Losing sleep over something we should be worried about, 'Mione?" Harry asked attentively.

Hermione shook her head, forcing another light smile, "Nawh, it's probably just insomnia."

"Shitty…" Ron muttered, as Snape strode into class.

"Don't bother getting comfortable." Snape sneered as he glared at his Gryffindor and Slytherin seventh year class. "For the remainder of the year, Dumbledore is having me assign partners…." He scowled taking out a parchment of names as the class groaned, "… Potter and Longbottom, Pansy and Weasley, Zabalini and Goyle, Granger and Malfoy …" At this point, Hermione zoned out.

Hermione groaned, as Draco reluctantly took a seat beside her, a scowl plastered on his face as he glared at their Potions teacher. _'Figures… since we are Head boy and girl, I should have known Snape would pull something like this_.' She growled in thought.

* * *

**-Draco's POV-**

I couldn't help but occasionally glare at the girl who sat beside me in silence, as we continued to cut up the ingredients for the potion which cures hic-ups.

I couldn't help it… my eyes kept darting wearily over to her; and I felt my body tense as I watched Potter, who was sitting behind us with that numbskull Longbottom, tap my fiancée on the shoulder gently before passing her a note.

Hermione read over the note, before glance back at Harry and whispered "I'll be there, hun." She smiled comfortingly.

Hun? **_HUN?!?!_** What the fuck? Where was she meeting Potter? Why was she meeting him? She sees him and that Weasel-boy everyday in her free-time; now she was making extra arrangements to go out of her way to see, Saint Potter!

My fists clenched instinctively… my blood went cold with rage, as I tried to calm myself. Our potion was nearly finished, now we just had to let it sit. But in the mean time, Hermione was whispering quietly to Harry….too _quietly_! – My eyes narrowed. -

From the corner of my eye, I watched as Harry put a comforting hand on hers, and whisper to her gently. - I felt myself twitch with their skin contact. - Hermione nodded and smiled, as he whispered something back to her.

I couldn't take it any longer… Harry squeezed her hand…. Why couldn't they… Hermione sighed deeply…

**_SNAP_**

"Will you both, GET A ROOM?!?!" I was at my feet glaring down at and stunned Hermione and an irritated Pothead.

"Excuse me?" Hermione said as calmly as she could – I could tell she was holding back her rage. The class fell silent; no one dared to speak… not even Snape.

"You little whore; you know bloody well what I'm fucking talking about! Why don't you just spread your legs and let Potter fuck you now!" I bellowed, my fists clenched so tight, my knuckles were turning white.

How dare she… She belonged to me now… How dare she-

"What did you just call me?!?!" Hermione shrieked, getting to her feet, anger flaring in her eyes. "Harry and I are just friends!"

"With benefits?" I snorted bitterly.

"What gives you the right to give a flying fuck, _Malfoy_!??" She hissed through her gritted teeth.

"In case you have forgotten, _Granger_ – You belong to me now! You're my fiancée now; you shouldn't be strutting around like a walking sexpot!" I growled back, ignoring the fact that I had announced our _situation_ to our whole class – I noticed even Snape had grown pale.

The colour from Hermione's face had drained as she stared at me in utter shock, "You fucking loud-mouthed bastard!" She shrieked, as she raised her arm and brought it down, aiming for my left cheek.

But I had seen it coming, and roughly snatched her wrist, holding it away from my face as I glared at her, my hold on her tightening, causing her to wince slightly. "That's no way to treat you're fiancé, Granger…" I sneered.

She drew in a breath as she glanced around the room, and I followed her gaze, she was staring at a red-faced livid Ron Weasley, and a speechless Harry Potter. She bit down on her lip, before sending me the iciest glare I had ever received from her.

If looks could kill, I would have been sixteen feet under.

Hermione roughly pulled her arm from my hold, before pushing my harshly, sending me stumbling back. I probably would have kept my footing, if I hadn't stumbled over my chair, and fell onto the cold hard stone floor of the potions chamber.

How dare she-

"Filthy little Mudblood…" The bitter words had left my mouth out of a natural habit before I had the chance to think. But the moment the words flowed my mouth, I had regretted it.

Tears of anger and pain welled up in her eyes, as she glared hatefully down at me, "I hate you…" she hissed out feebly, "I told you never to mock me! Don't call me THAT!!" She shrieked, and with her sudden outburst, I found the contents in our cauldron being pored over my head.

"**Bloody hell!!**" I yelled angrily, wiping the harmless pink liquid from my eyes to glare back up at my enraged fiancée. But the scowl immediately left my face as I stared up at her – guilt was already consuming me.

Tears were finally falling down her pale cheeks, "I hate you…" She cried out weakly, before spinning on her heel, and ran as fast as she could out of our class, leaving me alone with the flabbergasted potions class.

"Mr. Malfoy…" Snape was standing over me, with an unreadable look upon his face. "May I be blunt and ask, where the hell _that_ came from?" His eyes narrowed at me, "From what I was informed, you did not want this _situation_..."

I stared down at the pink puddle in which I saw in. Where did that come from? Out of no where, jealousy consumed me- and I wanted nothing more than to beat the fucking shit out of Potter for touching something the belonged to me…

Since when did Granger belong to me?!? What the fuck?!!?

Snape must have sensed that I had as much of a clue as he did on why I behaved the way I just had. For he told me to go to my common room, but not before deducting 50 points from Slytherin and 40 from Gryffindor for the disturbance of the class. Of course I was punished more than Granger was, since I had in fact started the scene….

Potter and Weasley were glaring at the back of my neck as I left the classroom in a bemused silence.

Why, in deed, did I freak out like that? The mere touch of Potter's hand had somehow set me up the wall… I did not like that feeling either… Especially when Granger didn't push him away… I _wanted_ to hurt Potter… And I _needed_ to declare Hermione Granger as mine…

I sighed heavily, _'Well…I accomplished one out of the two.'_

* * *

**-Hermione's POV-**

How dare he… How dare he-

I sniffled as I pounded my fists against the bathroom door, before I turned around in defeat, and slid down the door, burying my face in my arms resting them upon my knees.

Not only did he announce to both of our houses that we were engaged, but he declared me as his, and he had mocked me in such a way that brought tears to my eyes… He called me a **_Mudblood_**!

He knew that calling me that hurt more than ever now – now that I had Veela blood in me. Yet those three words had slipped through his lips like a silky poison.

He… _sniff_ … He had really hurt her this time… _sniff _… Why did he-

"Granger?"

I slowly lifted my head to see Draco standing in his bathroom doorway staring down at me, as I pressed up against my own bathroom door. "Go away." I managed to choke up.

"Look, I didn't mean to call you that! It's a habit. And I'm not sure what came over me earlier…" Draco frowned slightly, more less at himself, but I remained silent, as I stared down at my toes. "Granger! I'm apologizing for fuck's sakes!"

I slowly raised my eyes to meet his; immediately all my thoughts went all fuzzy as I found myself being trapped in his paralyzing greyish-blue eyes. My breath hitched in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow.

Somehow my feet were acting on their own; within seconds I was at my feet, and slowly walking over to where Malfoy stood. My heart thumbed painfully against my chest, demanding something of me. I was craving something from the inside, and my body was reacting to it.

I suppressed a whimper as Draco tilted his head questionably down at me; we were now face to face, our eyes not leaving the others. My eyes were growing heavy and the tingling sensation was driving me crazy.

It was him I was craving… My body wanted him… his lips… his taste… MY body _wanted_ him…. But I _needed_ him.

"I..I…" Fuck, I tried to yell that I hated him… but the words refused to leave my lips.

"Granger…" Was his husky reply, as he took a stepforward so that we were mere inches apart, "I said I was sorry." He whispered, trying to sound mean again, but failed horribly.

_'Aw fuck.'_ Was the last dishevelled thought as I leaned up and pressed my lips upon his before I had time to think about what I was doing.

* * *

**-Normal POV-**

Draco blinked a few times more before allowing his eyes to instinctively shut briskly, relaxing in Hermione's kiss. He flicked his tongue over her lower lip causing her to gasp slightly, giving him entrance.

Hermione's head swirled and she began to feel light-headed as he entered her mouth, his warm tongue sliding over hers, the taste of winter circulating over her mouth; she couldn't contain the groan that escaped her throat, and somehow found her fingers gliding through Draco's blonde silky hair.

The inner craving, slowly being satisfied, but her heart continued to beat painfully against her ribcage... Hermione's lips began to tingle ten times more, her stomach flinching and turning, while her throbbing heart managed to settle itself in her throat - and it remained there no matter how hard she tried to swallow it down. Her breaths were fast, and her pulse was racing, nothing would keep pace.

Draco, who's hands were settled firmly upon her slender waist began to explore her body, occasionally bringing her as close as he could press against her. All thoughts lost…both were drowning in the lust of the moment… Draco began to stumble back from the desire that made his body weak; bringing Hermione back with him, before they both fell back on Draco's bed.  
  
Slowly both broke apart with silent moans of disapproval, panting heavily.  
  
Hermione stared up into Draco's eyes full of confusion, yet lust. He pinned Hermione on her back before attacking her neck with fiery hot kisses, searing her skin with a new found heat, sending tingling shivers done her spine, and drowning her in Goosebumps.

Hermione let out a loud moan, just before she came to her senses…. _'Me…Malfoy… bed… kissing me…' _were her panicked thoughts.

She bolted up right causing Draco to roll off of her, glaring at her for interrupting him. Now in a horror-stricken state, barely able to keep herself breathing; she scrambled off the bed, before rushing through the washroom, and into her room, locking the door quickly.

She let out a deep exhaled leaning against the door, tears streaming down her face. Fuck was she confused. How could she let Malfoy take her first kiss?!

_'Wait…' _Hermione opened her eyes, as reality dawned on her._ 'I kissed him...' _She gently touched her lips with her trembling fingers,_ 'What's wrong with me?!?!'_

Her eyes instinctively glared at her bed, where a lone book sat upon her pillow. "_The History of the Veela and the Valkyrie_."

She dove onto her bed, snatching the book, slamming it open and flipping to Chapter 7 again. Her eyes scanned the chapter before she found the Heading of a new topic which she was dreading.

"**MATING **- _Coming of Age:_"

* * *

**AN:** yesh, yesh, I noe, I noe. I'm evil to leave it at that. Aw well you'll live. Long chap I noe that too, sorry guys!! Lol I shud be updating again soon I hope.

**_Read and Review_**

**Next chap:** Hermione reads more of that book, and learns more than she bargained for. Things should get more heated. And Hermione finds out the whereabouts of her friend Alex.

Love ya all. L8ter Dayz

mystic-water


	7. When one comes of Age

**AN: **God yesh I noe.. it took me forever ne? sorry at one point I lost it and I had to find it again but I only found like the first page and I had to rewrite it T-T gomen! Owell its reasonably long so I hope yew enjoy it now! Ill try and update more often okies?

* * *

**When one comes of Age (chap 7)**

* * *

Hermione dove onto her bed, snatching the book, slamming it open and flipping to Chapter 7 again. Her eyes scanned the chapter before she found the Heading of a new topic which she was dreading.

"**MATING** - _Coming of Age_: Veela (as well as Halfling Vila) come of age around their 17-18th birthday. Their bodies tend to react in ways they are not accustomed to. The Veela will subconsciously choose his or her life partner without yet knowing it, and will become very protective of the mate they desire. Lust will temporarily, at random times, take over their body, and desire their life partner to quench the thirst of lust. Controlling themselves gets more and more difficult the more they resist the symptoms of coming of age. (This also applies to those who have been betrothed.)"

Hermione's face grew pale, as she slid her finger down to the word '**_Symptoms_**,' which listed things like; **_intense jealousy, possessiveness, heated lust, longing, frustration, crying, fear, agitation, feelings of immense physical or emotion pain, feelings of betrayal for no reason, lost of control of ones body… etc… etc…_**

'_Malfoy and I…'_ Hermione's eyes widened as she glanced back at the locked door, _'We…we are experiencing symptoms of Coming of Age.'_

"Shit…" She whispered, "This is **not** good."

Once again she found her eyes gazing back at the locked door, separating her room from Malfoy's… Again that inner craving had returned at the mere thought of her fiancé. She shook her head and narrowed her eyes at this thought, _'Don't call him that Hermione… He's a prat, not a fiancé!'_

'_But that prat is an amazing kisser…'_ A voice commented from somewhere in the back of her mind.

'_No! Shut up! You're just the symptoms talking!'_ Hermione growled at this, and slammed the book shut, throwing it across the room angrily, before it hit the far wall and landed with a loud _thump_.

'_Admit it…you need him. You **want** his body, his touch…his sexy ass. But you **need** his affection.'_

"Alright! That's enough!" Hermione got to her feet, as she stomped over to the bathroom door, unlocked and opened it, before storming in to Draco's room. "We need to stop this! And I mean **now**!" she hissed, causing Draco to sit up from his bed, the voice of his fiancée breaking his own deep thoughts.

"What are you blabbering on about?" He snarled; oh he was angry – he had no fucking clue why his body was acting the way it was…and what was worst he and Granger had just snogged each other senseless.

"These are symptoms of coming of age when you're a Veela!" She half-yelled at him furiously, "So we are gunna need to control ourselves!"

"Hey! You're the one who kissed me!" Draco snarled back defensively. "Meaning _you_ need to control _yourself_."

"And who was the one who opened his loud mouth and announced to our Houses, that I _belonged_ to you! Which, by the way, is bullshit because I belong to **no one**!" Hermione yelled back angrily.

"In case you've forgotten, Granger. You **do** belong to me! You're **my** fiancée – much to my annoyance! And soon you and I will share the same last name, and there is **nothing **we can do about it!" Draco hissed back.

"**_See!_** That's the bloody symptoms talking! You're jealous and possessive!" Hermione shrieked, pointing her finger accusingly at Draco.

"I am not!" Draco yelled back, getting to his feet.

"You are so! But you're just too blinded by the symptoms to realise that this isn't you talking! It's the pheromones or some shit!" Hermione huffed, her voice lowering slightly.

"No, Granger! I'm not possessed by some stupid _'Coming of Age Symptoms'_, I know damn right what I'm saying to you!" Draco growled, completely irritated with the gorgeous girl who stood in front of him-she looks so damn kissable when she was angry.

'_Gorgeous! Kissable?'_ Draco's eyes widened, _'Shit…Granger might be right…'_

"Fuck, whatever Malfoy. I'm in no mood to deal with you when you're in denial." Hermione grunted stubbornly.

"I'm not in denial, Granger!" Draco yelled, completely frustrated, "Nor am I possessive."

Hermione folded her arms over her chest, "Nor do you listen." She muttered, completely annoyed.

"Look Granger; what happened in Potions class wasn't my fault – _that_ was the symptoms talking! But the fact of the matter is you will soon be my fiancée, and trust me I am _not_ at all pleased about it!" Draco said fractiously, as he glared at Hermione who stood with her arms crossed glaring back at him.

"Whatever Malfoy! Just stay the fuck away from me!" She yelled back, before storming out of his room, slamming the bathroom door behind her.

* * *

Draco glared at the shut door. _'The nerve of that girl.'_ He huffed before falling back onto his pillow, folding his arms over his chest furiously.

Did she think he was **happy **that she was going to be his fiancée? Did she think that he actually **wanted** to own someone as stuck-up as her? Draco grunted at this,_ 'The symptoms are making her fucking lose it.'_

He sighed heavily; he couldn't believe how easily he drowned away with the mere touch of her lips on his. He was completely lost when she kissed him, and he couldn't hold himself back, no matter how hard he tried to pull away from her.

He didn't like that at all… He and Granger had just fucking made out, and he enjoyed it! Bloody hell, maybe **he** was losing it.

I mean who fucking enjoys making out with their arch enemy's best friend, who he had hated for the past seven years! And all that time he had thought her to be a filthy Mudblood as well… and then that turned out to be complete bullshit.

And now he was suppose to marry the fucking bookworm and **ignore** all the things he had grown to hate about her; **ignore the fact** that she was _never_ a Mudblood - **ignore the fact** that she beat him at _nearly _every academic subject in Hogwarts - **ignore the fact** that she was best buds with Pothead and Weasel - **ignore the fact** that she had slapped him on several occasions throughout the seven years of hating her- **ignore** the spats and insults they exchanged daily – put _all_ that _(among other things) _aside, and marry the bloody girl.

He let out a low, frustrated growl.

Must everything be so complicated? I mean what were the chances that Hermione Granger was the biological daughter of Mr Darien Valhalla – the father of the family which he was promised to marry their first born daughter! The gods must have really hated him, to curse him with such a fiancée.

Draco let out a dishevelled sigh, _'I don't even wanna go to dinner now… I really fucked things up with my outburst…' _His eyes narrowed at the thought, _'It's going to be all over Hogwarts by dinner… everyone's going to know that Granger is my fiancée… Fuck…'_

* * *

Draco sat in silence, as he quietly ate his dinner; trying his best to ignore the constant questioning and prodding's from Pansy and Blaise, among a few of his other Slytherin friends – everyone else seemed to scared to approach Draco, let alone ask him about the subject.

Blaise seemed more supportive and understanding than Pansy did. After all he was on speaking terms with the Gryffindor princess, unlike most of his Slytherin class mates. "What a catch Draco. Who would of thought you go first dibs of the Gryffindor Virgin." The dark haired boy chuckled lightly, "One hell of a way to announce your undying love for the girl too. You get more creative each year Malfoy!" He teased, indigo eyes glinting mischievously.

"Stuff it Zabini!" Draco grunted, earning another smooth chuckle from his friend.

Pansy stared at Draco with puffy red eyes; it seemed she had been crying earlier, "Tell me it isn't true Drakie!" She begged, "You just did that to piss her off, didn't you? You would never marry a filthy little **_Mudblood_** like her- I know you wouldn't! You would never!" Although she was questioning Draco, she seemed to be trying her best to convince herself of this.

"Don't call her that…" He muttered in low, dangerous voice, not even glancing at the annoying girl who sat beside him.

Pansy was taken aback by this, "But Draco! You said it yourself; a dirty muggle born like her is lower than dirt! She's a Mudblood!" Pansy squeaked.

Draco's eyes narrowed, before glaring icily at Pansy, "Parkinson!" He snapped icily, "Don't fucking call her that! Do I make myself clear!" His voice was demanding and perilous, as he glared at the trembling girl beside him.

Pansy nodded numbly, still completely dumbstruck.

Draco's eyes darted at the rest of the Slytherin table who were now staring at Draco warily, "And that goes for the rest of you!" he snapped, "Got it!"

Blaise quirked an eye brow as a murmur of agreement passed over the Slytherin table, well this was… new.

Draco resumed eating in a livid silence. He would not have Granger being mocked unknowingly like that; he knew that word hurt her more than ever now – and although he loathed the fact that she was to be his wife, he would not tolerate the Slytherin's to call her something that was not only completely untrue, but painful towards her.

Suddenly the chatter in the great hall, of all four houses, came to a dead silence; Draco glanced up, and found out why. Hermione was slowly making her way over to the Gryffindor table, keeping her eyes plastered on the floor, and her arms wrapped around herself, in attempt to calm her.

"Here comes Mrs. Draco Malfoy now." Blaise whispered quietly, making Pansy squirm furiously in her seat.

All the eyes of the Great Hall followed Hermione, before she slowly sat down across from a silent Harry and Ron.

Her face was flushed with embarrassment and anger, as she stared down at her food, refusing to look up at the faces that stared at her. Slowly the silence was dissolved in the chatter of the Great Hall; however the half of the Gryffindor table remained quiet as they stared at their Gryffindor Princess.

"Aren't you even going to deny it!" Ron suddenly screamed at her, causing her to glance up at her friend; his face nearly as red as his curly red hair.

Hermione remained silent, glancing back down at her untouched dinner; she wanted to deny it – really she did – but that would be lying to them. But then again, she had lied to them for the past week, what would make this different? Oh yeah… Draco **announced** it to both of their houses…

She sighed heavily at this.

"Go on Hermione!" Ron continued angrily, "Deny it! Fucking deny it! Why aren't you denying it!"

"I… I can't, Ron." She whispered sadly.

"What do you mean you can't!" Ron's eyes narrowed at this.

"I can't deny it Ronald…" Hermione raised her eyes to meet his and Harry's, tears welling already. "I **am** engaged to Malfoy." She let the tears fall at this.

"Bullshit!" Ron hissed, banging his fist on the table, causing Hermione to wince.

"Ron, stop it." Harry growled at his friend, before glancing at Hermione, "You got to explain this 'Mione; you're making no sense."

Draco, who had been sitting in silence, eating his dinner while the Slytherin's around him cautiously, avoided questioning the Slytherin Prince, now glanced across the hall to stare at his struggling fiancée.

He watched as she drew in a deep breath to calm herself before explaining to the rest of the Gryffindor's, how exactly she and him ended up being engaged.

A few times, the girl nearly lost herself, tears formed in her eyes which she tried desperately to blink away. Draco's eyes wandered over to Harry and Ron's faces. They were in utter shock- and he couldn't really blame the idiots. He was utterly shocked when he found out Hermione Granger would soon be sharing his last name.

Hermione drew in a deep breath, holding back a few tears, "And I've read all the books that I could… and there's no way out of it…" She murmured. She hated that fact; books always solved everything… everything except this.

"But there has to be something! You can't go marrying that prick just because you're suddenly half-veela!" Ron huffed angrily.

Hermione's eyes cast down upon her untouched plate once more, "There is nothing we can do Ron…"

"But that isn't fair to you 'Mione! Don't they know how much you hate each other!" Harry shook his head in disbelief.

"It wouldn't matter even if they cared that we hated one another. Trust me Harry," She drew in a deep breath, "Love and Hate is no factor in this situation…"

'_Got that one right, Granger.'_ Draco thought bitterly, as he stared down at his plate.

Blaise caught that last line and glanced between the two Head students cautiously. Ah so this was forced. That explained things a bit better. But it still didn't explain why Draco announced this arrangement to both Slytherin and Gryffindor if he hated it. There was definitely something his friend was hiding beneath the surface.

"So they are bloody forcing you to marry that prat!" Ron shrieked, catching some unwanted attention from the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

Hermione gave an exasperated sigh, "Yes Ronald… I think we established that…"

Harry frowned at this, staring down at his plate as well, "I can't believe Dumbledore is letting this be seen through! I mean he knows you both despise one another… and he knows how difficult Malfoy can be-"

"-Not to mention how rude, insufferable, emotionless, stuck up, hot headed, and down right evil that bouncing ferret is!" Ron cut Harry short with his ranting before glancing at Hermione, "Right 'Mione? I feel so bad for you! I mean, who would want to marry that emotionless prick of a-"

"Ron…" Harry elbowed Ron, to stop him from continuing his ranting.

"Well you get my point, right 'Mione?" He said sheepishly. "Hermione?"

"Yea…" She sighed quietly, but suddenly glanced up, as Draco slammed his goblet down on the table, getting to his feet, and storming out of the Great Hall – with both Blaise and pansy watching as he left.

"Not to mention his bad temper." Ron muttered, causing Harry to roll his eyes.

Hermione let out another sigh, glancing at her untouched plate, "I think I'm gonna go to bed- I'm not really hungry, and this has been quite an exhausting day…" She smiled weakly at the boys, who nodded in understanding,

"You're still coming with us to visit Alex right?" Harry asked suddenly.

"Of course… I just need to lay down for a bit… We'll talk more tonight- I'm just too tired to think right now." She admitted sheepishly.

"Alright, Ron and I will be at your room at midnight with the cloak, that way we wont get caught by Filch and Mrs. Norris." Harry smiled lightly.

Hermione nodded at this, "See you then… Night boys."

"Night 'Mione." The chorused after her, as she slowly made her way out of the Hall and up towards their common room.

* * *

Hermione stood outside the door, staring up at the icy winged cat in the portrait, she seemed like she had just woken up. _'Maybe Malfoy went for a fly around the pitch… then I can avoid him for the rest of the night.'_

But the loud **_CRASH_** from inside their room, told her other wise.

She growled slightly at this_, 'Or, maybe not…'_

"Amor Prohibido" She muttered the password and stepped into a sight she never thought she would ever see.

Draco was on rampage, destroying things left and right, throwing books against the wall, kicking things- paper flying - pillows from the couches scattered - chairs tipped over – to say the least, their room was in a complete mess.

"Malfoy!" She gasped, as he whipped a pillow across the room, narrowly missing her head, "What _are_ you doing!" She shrieked, as she watched him continue to make a mess of things.

"What does it look like?" He snorted back angrily, causing her to wince slightly at his tone.

"It looks like, you've gone bloody mad!" she jumped again when he smashed a glass ornament against the wall, she drew in a deep breath trying to gather herself, "What's your problem!"

Draco spun on his heel; momentarily stopping his rampage for a few moments, "You're my problem, Granger! You and the rest of the idiotic Gryffindor's!" He suddenly picked up one of the turned over chairs, and hurled it against the wall, causing Hermione to wince again.

"It's all about you!" He suddenly spat out, "Poor Granger, poor Granger! Stuck with an emotionless **PRAT**!" He yelled angrily, throwing a leg of the broken chair at the window, causing it to shatter.

He spun on her again, glaring at her with anger burning in his eyes, and malice dripping off his every word, "You think I'm _happy_ about this, Granger? You think I _want_ to marry you? Ever think that maybe, I wanted to marry a girl I fell in love with! **No!** Of course you haven't, because I'm Draco Malfoy! I only use girls for **SEX**!" He yelled, sarcastically, turning again and throwing a pillow at the coffee table, causing a bunch of stuff to break, "He could care less about something as committing yet pathetic as marriage!"

Hermione stumbled back as she watched Draco continue to rant and scream, as he threw stuff around, knocking everything off of the mantel of the hearth. And for once, she was truly and utterly scared of this Draco Malfoy.

"Oh Draco's fine!" He continued, "Remember, he's a _Malfoy_, and Malfoy's are incapable of any emotion, least of all love! Malfoy's don't love! So Draco doesn't care – as long as he gets a couple shags a week, he's happy!"

She had never seen Draco so emotionally frustrated before, it was beginning to really scare her; she was even beginning to wonder if this behaviour of his was the '**_Symptoms'_**, or really Draco himself talking.

"Malfoy… I…"

"You're what? You're sorry! Don't bullshit me Granger!" He yelled, kicking her photo album towards the roaring fire.

"No!" She squeaked as she suddenly pointed her wand at the sliding book, "_Wengardian Leviosa!_"

Hermione let out a sigh of relief; floating her book onto the coffee table, just as Draco snatched up a goblet and threw it angrily into the fire.

"Malfoy stop it!" before she even realised what she was doing, she latched on to Draco's arm to prevent him from further smashing things about. "Calm down!"

"Get off me, Granger!" He hissed, as he struggled with the girl who had latched onto him. But Hermione held on tighter, refusing to give up.

"No! You have to stop this Malfoy!" she pleaded; but Draco being the stronger of the two, shoved Hermione off of him, and flung her onto the couch, rather painfully – and within seconds, Draco was on top of her, pinning her there.

Hermione's breath hitched in her throat, fear consuming her body. She had never seen Draco like this before… And she didn't want the symptoms to take over again… she didn't want to lose control… she didn't want _him_ to lose control.

"Malfoy..." She managed to whisper out, staring up into his greyish-blue eyes.

The anger in his eyes faded, and lust washed over him again, "You smell good." He mumbled.

"Malfoy!" Hermione tensed as she glared at the boy on top of her, "Get off me _now!_ You're bloody losing it! This is the symptoms!" She struggled to push him off, but he refused to move.

Draco leaned now, his nose nearly touching hers, his breath mingling with hers, "Why Granger? Why?" he suddenly asked in a low whisper, his eyes locked with hers.

"Excuse me?" Hermione looked slightly taken aback as she stared up at her fiancé.

"Why do we feel these things, when we've hated each other for seven years…"

"I…" Hermione drew in a deep breath at this, "I don't know Malfoy… it's the way of the Veela…" She whispered back.

"It's not fair." He said strongly, "Why can't you go back to being a filthy little Mudblood? Things weren't fucked up then… things were easier when we were enemies…" He trailed off, before his gaze became cold and hard, "Why aren't you a Mudblood anymore Granger!" He hissed suddenly, clenching his hands tighter around her wrists.

Tears found themselves flooding Hermione's brown eyes, but not from the pain Draco was pressing on her wrists. "I never was a Mudblood, Malfoy…"she choked.

"It's not fair…" He said again, finally, slowly getting off of Hermione and getting to his feet.

"I know…" Hermione whispered back, sitting up slightly rubbing her bruised wrists, staring down into her lap shamefully. Hermione glanced up slowly at Draco, who was slowly making his way up the stairs, "Malfoy?"

"Leave me alone Granger." He muttered back, closing his bedroom door behind him.

Hermione sighed heavily, slowly laying back down on the couch staring at the mess of the common room around her… this was going to be hell to clean up… but she would deal with it in the morning, at the moment all she wanted to do was sleep… until Harry and Ron came to get her. She felt so exhausted.

She didn't want to be bothered with Draco's temper tantrum… she couldn't blame him for his behaviour really… this whole situation was thoroughly frustrating… She drew in a deep breath letting her eyes fall shut, letting the calm of sleep take her body away.

* * *

"Granger…"

Hermione drew in a breath at the sound of his seductive voice; she let her eyes flutter open to see the hazy figure of Draco Malfoy, sitting on the edge of the couch, staring down at her.

"Have you calmed down now?" She whispered back, mentally wondering what time it was.

Draco nodded silently, before leaning closer towards her, "I was wrong to take it out on you…"

Hermione tried to calm herself at his closeness, "Was that an apology?" She smirked lightly.

Draco's upper lip drew up a little in to a faint smirk, "No…" he leaned in closer smirking at Hermione's stunned expression, and slightly irritated that he hadn't apologised yet, "No…" he repeated again, "This is…"

"Mal-" Hermione was silenced by his soft dominating lips pressing against hers. Only this kiss was different from the time she had kissed him in the bathroom. He pulled back briefly, his eyes still half shut from the lust circulating through his veins.

"I don't care if it is the symptoms talking; I want you **_now_**, Granger." He said sternly, yet he could not hide the lust and ecstasy evident in his voice.

Hermione found herself pressed on her back, as Draco came back on top of her, nuzzling and suckling on the hot flesh of her soft ivory neck. Before she could stop herself, a low groan mixed with pleasure and slight annoyance slipped past her lips from the very back of her throat. Part of her was impatient and craving more from the Slytherin Prince above her; while the other half scolded her body in annoyance for letting the Symptoms get the better half of her.

Yet the lust and heat of passion swayed Hermione's body and mind over within moments when his dominant lips found hers again, drowning her away in pools of perplexity and desire.

She could not bring herself to pull away from the sex god of Slytherin, as his tongue slid in and out of her warm, wet mouth, like the very serpent snake of Slytherin itself. How could she bring herself to her senses when the taste of winter was circulating over her mouth, and heat of pleasure was washing over her body like a liquid fire, drawing her away from reality, pulling her in deeper into the pools of desire and lust?

The fact was, she didn't want him to stop, she wanted this moment to last forever, she didn't want to let go of the blonde above her. She clutched onto his robes, as if she were clinging to life itself.

But just as she tried to find her way deeper into the kiss, Draco pulled back and smiled down affectionately at her. Why did he stop? Why wasn't he kissing her anymore?

"Malfoy…" She managed to whisper through her slight panting, oh Merlin she wanted him right here and now; screw the symptoms she just wanted Draco Malfoy in this moment.

"Hermione?"

She nearly gasped when he said her name for the first time, she was about to answer; only this time he cut her short.

"Are you okay? We have to go!"

"Go where?" She murmured back, where did he want to take her? To his room? She let a sly blush wash over her cheeks at this thought. But she suddenly gasped, as slowly Draco's body began to fade away. "Don't leave…" She whispered, holding back tears, "Stay with me… I'm not a Mudblood anymore remember!" She almost yelled she was angry now; why was he leaving after all that? That bastard!

But Draco had fully disappeared, and the soft seductive voice, changed dramatically, to an angry frustrated tone. "Dammit Hermione! What are you talking about! We are going to visit Alex remember? Wake the fuck up!"

Hermione's eyes flashed open, bolting upright, to find herself face to face with Ron and Harry standing over her, with confused looks plastered on their faces. "Geez, you must have been in some deep sleep! We've been trying to wake you up for 10 minutes now!"

Hermione's face flushed red at the sudden thought of her dream… it was a dream… but it felt so real…

"You feeling okay? You looked flushed, 'Mione." Harry put a hand over his friends forehead but immediately pulled back, "'Mione you're burning up!" he gasped.

He had a point; she wasn't feeling too well at the moment. And that dream hadn't made things any better.

"Geez what the fuck happened in here?" Ron glanced around the mess that was their common room. "Did Draco throw a hissy fit or something?"

"How the hell did you get in here?" She frowned, diverting there attention away from the mess.

"That cat on your door! Let us in, she looked worried- it was no wonder, you looked like you were having some sort of vivid dream from your fever." Harry spoke up, brushing his soft hand over her hot flesh again. "You should get to bed. Ron and I will check up on Alex- I'll get Madam Pomfrey to give me something for your fever."

"Yeah... thanks… Tell Alex I'll see her tomorrow." She whispered faintly, watching her best friends leave.

"Get some sleep Mione, you look like shit!" Ron called over his shoulder, shutting the door behind him.

She glared at the door. "Thanks Ron." She huffed sarcastically and staggered to her feet- her knees still weak from that dream, and her head felt so heavy with her fever raging on like it was.

She glanced around the room still noting the enormous mess- she would clean it up tomorrow morning. Harry and Ron were right- with a fever she should be in bed sleeping. Specially after having such a delirious dream like that; she decided she should be bed ridden until the fever subsided.

Slowly she made her way up the stairs. She really wasn't in the mood to fall out of her current state- and she was sure Draco was still pissed at her so he wouldn't even bother to come help her if she fell down the stairs. He would probably she leave her there until morning.

She wasn't sure why- but instead of wobbling up to her room, she decided to check up on Draco. She was feeling guilty. But why? She couldn't remember at this moment. The door was unlocked, and the room was dark and quiet. Slowly she wandered into the room- silently shutting the door behind her.

Why was she even here again? Did she feel obliged to make sure Draco was ok? She could tell from the still formed figure on his bed that he was sleeping soundly- she was relieved knowing she hadn't woken him up upon her entrance. She noticed it was cool in his room- he had left his window open. The silver silk curtains rustled in the late evening breeze.

The light from the moon danced over the windowpane and across the plush floor of the Slytherin Prince's domain. The silver and dark greens made the mood of his room all that more relaxing- and not all that threatening as it looked like in the afternoons. It must have been the night effect. All Hermione knew was not even her room seemed this peaceful at night.

She sat at the edge of his bed, just inches from where he slept- facing her. Why was she here again? She couldn't remember… he looked beautiful and peaceful when she slept- and she was positive it wasn't the symptoms talking.

There was no scowl, no mask set upon his features. He seemed relaxed and at ease. Even after his temper tantrum in their Common Room, he looked completely content. He looked like any other normal person would while they slept- it was surreal to see Draco Malfoy in such a way.

His silky blonde hair wisped over his forehead as a gust of cold air brushed around his room from his window. No wonder he was half-Veela. His look was so alluring- his scent intoxicating- his skin looked so soft- he was addictive. No wonder all of Hogwarts had dubbed him the **_Sex God of Slytherin_**. Hell, even girls outside of Draco's own house were helplessly in love with him.

Lavender Brown had often commented about how undoubtedly sexy he was. Hannah Abbot once said she wouldn't mind snogging him senseless. Padma Patil said something about his nice ass on several occasions. So it was no mystery that girls other than Pansy had taken a liking to him.

But for Hermione, herself, to be indulged in is attractiveness? Well not only was it unheard of, but it seemed forbidden to do so, despite the fact that they were indeed, engaged.

She moaned out loud, burying her face into her hands. Maybe she should go to Madam Pomfrey to find some sort of antidote to settle these unruly symptoms of theirs. They certainly were complicating things.

Sighing softly she slowly moved to get off the bed- she couldn't stand being in his room any longer. His smell was everywhere. It was intoxicating- she was already losing her mind. Already she was forming some very naughty thoughts about her fiancé amongst the midst of her already perplexing thoughts.

Suddenly she found she couldn't move. Two arms had snaked their way around her waist and pulled her back onto the bed. She could feel the muscles lining his arms as he pulled her closer to his chest. He was sitting up- and was breathing heavily along her exposed shoulder.

"Malfoy!" She gasped- but found she couldn't struggle against it even if she tried.

"Why are you here Granger?" He growled into her ear- his lips grazing over her earlobe as he spoke.

Hermione tried best to stay under control despite her current condition. Was he trying to do this on purpose? Didn't he understand when she told him about the symptoms? She told him they needed to stay away from each other… but then... didn't she just break her own rule?

She shut her eyes tightly, trying to concentrate on anything else but him and his arms… and his scent… and his body… and his- _'Fuck!'_

She couldn't even come up with an answer to his question- what was his question again? Why was she here? She didn't know! She didn't know!

Why was her heart pounding so hard? Her ears were ringing and it felt like her stomach was lodged in her throat. She felt like choking, but she couldn't swallow any air- she couldn't breathe.

Why couldn't she breathe? Why was it hurting? Why did her chest tighten? Why did it fucking hurt! What did she want? What did she need! Bloody hell what was happening to her?

'_What's fucking happening to me!'_ She whimpered at the thought. She gasped loudly as she felt his hands cover her pounding chest.

How did he know where it was hurting? How did he know? Why was it helping?

"You feel it too don't you Granger?" He hissed into her ear, sending small shivers up her spine. "It hurts doesn't it?" His voice was hoarse and strangled- as if he was trying to force the words out.

She could do nothing but nod- the lump in her throat wouldn't leave and she could not bring her self to talk. Why was she even here? Why was he holding her? She leaned back against him- noticing how it eased some of the pain in her chest.

"How much longer do you think we can fight this Granger?" His voice came out in a weakened growl, as she felt one hand slide down from her chest to rest on her stomach. "This is getting bloody ridiculous though."

Well that's one thing she could agree with him on. She was letting him touch her in such intimate ways- it didn't seem right. But how much longer could they fight the pain before they gave in?

She wanted to give in now… because his hands were only doing a half ass job- she still couldn't speak. She her whole body shivered from the cool breeze as it slid up her back- bringing Draco's attention to her fever.

She gasped faintly when he pressed his cool palm to her forehead, "You've gotta be worse than I am. You have a bloody fever." He whispered, though he was sure Hermione already knew that. "Fuck it Granger!" He hissed out, "I don't fucking care how much your gunna hate me for this. But my chest feels like its gunna explode any given moment." He groaned, pushing the brunette onto her back, into his pillows.

The covers wrapped around their bodies as he came down on top of her. She gasped loudly feeling his lips graze her throat before he dominantly attacked it- suckling on her flushed skin gently.

This seemed to give Hermione just enough edge to find her voice. Her hands grasped his shoulders as she arched her head back giving him more access- it was as if his lips were slowly draining the pressure built up in her chest. "Malfoy-" She managed to choke out, as his lips trailed up her jaw line to find her lips. Kissing her deeply and sucking out any breath she had in her.

She moaned heavily, her eyes slamming shut her arms trying desperately to pull him closer- curse these symptoms. It was fucking hurting and the only way to make it stop was for Malfoy to kiss her senseless. He was her antidote.

He was her cure…

He was addicting…

But he was Draco Malfoy….

And she was Hermione Granger…

Yet they were both engaged…

Wasn't that enough?

For them…. It had to be.

* * *

**Mystic:** kinda a cliffie I noe. Gomen ne… you all luff me!And im sooo000oo sorry at how late this is... it took me many trys to get outta my writers block...nyah… anywho R+R thanks so much for all your comments! I love yew to bits! 


	8. It's all in the Blood

**AN:** ZOMG its been what a year now? Yes,I finally updated. You can thank my friend Leah (mystic89) for pestering me non-stop all month to finally update this fic. I'm not really proud of it as a whole. But hopefully I can turn the plot around within the next few chaps and make it worth reading. Thanks for staying loyal to me. Appreciate you're guys patience, especially with my major writers block I've been dealing with.

OWTF…

* * *

Its all in the Blood (chap 8)

* * *

The blaring red alarm clock showed it was nearly 5am. And despite it being mid-January, Hermione felt unbearably hot. Her body felt heavy, and trapped beneath an unfamiliar weight. Her hair was wet and plastered to her forehead from the sweat.

Someone beside her snuggled closer, the person still deep in sleep. She vaguely registered that this was Draco's room and not her own, which followed to the conclusion that it was Draco Malfoy's bare muscular arm wrapped about her waist.

It was too hot. She needed out. Her clothes, which she still had on thank god, were suffocating her. She needed to get out of the clothes and into a cold shower. If only she could make it to the washroom.

Moaning quietly, she removed Malfoy's arm and slowly dragged herself out of his bed, to stand uneasily on the floor.

Strange, she didn't remember the floor being this slanted before. Her knees almost buckled as she stumbled to the side, trying to regain her balance as quietly as possible.

Exhaling loudly, running a hand through her sweaty curls, Hermione once again tried to stable herself. No need to panic, it was clear snogging each other senseless was the only thing that happened between herself and Malfoy. She was still fully clothed, and from what she could tell, Malfoy was still in his boxers.

The symptoms were subsided for now. So now was the best time to escape before anything _else_ happened that both the Slytherin Sex God and the Gryffindor Princess would surely regret.

Right. No panicking needed at all.

She willed her legs to move, stumbling around the bed as she forced herself to make her way to the bathroom. Why was her vision so blurry all of a sudden? She shook her head, trying to clear herself from the deep sleep she must have fell into. The shower would surly wake her up and cool her down.

It was then she realized she was wheezing, she was literally gasping for air. Why was the air in his room so hot and unbearable? She stumbled forward again this time out of fatigue as she reached out for the bathroom door to steady herself. She stood there for a few moment, both hands placed at the door to keep herself from falling down.

She watched as a few tear drops fell down here cheeks and landed a few inches from her feet. She hadn't realized the heat and exhaustion had brought her to tears. Taking in another raged breath, she groaned loudly before pushing the door open. The faster she got in the shower, the better.

The door swung open fast from her weight, which caught Hermione off guard and she stumbled again, this time falling loudly to the cool bathroom tiles.

"Bloody hell." She hissed in pain, unable to move and bring herself to her feet. Her arms refused to hold her weight.

"Granger?" The voice was strained in the dark, and still sounded a bit sleepy.

"Malfoy." She hissed back, taking in another strangled breath, "Help me to the shower." If she had been thinking clearly, Hermione would have never dared to ask such a thing from Draco Malfoy, but the heat and her sore body made her cling to anything for help, anything to help relieve herself from this insanity.

She heard a string of curses and muttering from the bed. What was taking him so long? She pressed her hot cheek to the cool floor, relieving herself only a little of the heat.

"Granger, are you naked?" He called through the dark; his voice was muffled, so he must have had his face buried in his hands.

"I'm fully clothed." She wanted to be sarcastic and snap bitter comments at him, but it was hard enough finding enough oxygen to breathe let alone waste her breath yelling at him. Why wasn't Malfoy having trouble breathing? If this was part of the symptoms why wasn't he struggling too?

Suddenly she was staring at a pair of feet, Draco glaring down as he watched her struggle to stay awake. "What's wrong with you?" He demanded angrily. "It fucking five am!"

She groaned as a wave of dizziness overpowered her. The room was spinning violently, and her vision was fading in and out of black. "It's too hot! I can't see! I can't breathe!" She cried out. She gasped sharply, feeling his cold fingers brush across her forehead.

"Merlin Granger! You're burning!" Draco gasped, and she moaned when he pulled his hand away.

She reached out for his hand, but missed. "Your hand is cold." She whined. "Just put me in the shower then," She hissed.

"Forget that, I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey." He disappeared for a moment, coming back wearing a robe and holding his wand. He levitated her within moments out of the dormitory, and out into the halls. "Now be quiet. Students are still sleeping you stupid witch!" He hissed.

* * *

"My goodness, 104 degrees. It's a good thing you brought Miss Granger to me when you did Mr Malfoy." He watched from the side, as the medic-witch raced back and forth, bringing ice cold cloths and blankets.

"It's not contagious is it?" Draco curled his lip as he watched the brunette shudder beneath the wet blankets.

"No, no, of course not. Miss Granger is experiencing a backlash from the symptoms when a Veela comes of Age." She muttered, as she continued to monitor her temperature.

Draco frowned. "Why am I not affected the same way?"

"Surely Mr Malfoy you realize that Muggle blood reacts differently with the Veela DNA than Pureblood does." The nurse witch watched the blond heir of the Malfoy Manor frown at this.

"You're saying because Granger is half Muggle, that she's allergic to the symptoms?" He glanced at her, if this was the case, she really had it bad.

"Well yes, it's something like that. I suppose you could call it an allergic reaction. There is a reason Veela's don't mate with Muggles, quite normally, they are incompatible." Madam Pomfrey said knowingly. "Now her immune system is getting quite the shock from the maternal instincts the Veela chromosome is invoking. Her Muggle bloodline just can't keep up with the sophisticated structure and demands of the Veela gene. It's like mating two species with entirely different genetic makeup's... there are bound to be setbacks."

Draco remained silent as he watched Madam Pomfrey work. The nurse practically confirmed his father's idea that Mudblood's were genetically inferior. And as he watched Granger, lying on the bed, struggling to breathe, it would seem his father was right. At least in regards to Veela compatibility.

But Granger was only half mudblood now, only, she now had a part of purity flowing through her veins too. Well it was always there, she was always half Veela, and now it was biting her in the ass because she was born different.

He frowned. "Madam Pomfrey… does this mean Granger will be struggling with fevers all year?"

Pomfrey scoffed as she tried to get Hermione to drink a potion. "Don't be ridiculous. It's not as though she's the first half-Muggle, half-Veela in history. She'll need to drink this potion once a week to subdue the symptoms and side effects as she comes into Age." Hermione sputtered at the taste, spraying the potion all over a cloth. "Well you didn't expect it to taste like orange juice now did you? Drink it Miss Granger!"

Draco smirked, but then his smile fell as Pomfrey continued to scold Hermione. "I've had Professor Snape working on this potion for weeks, and he's going to continue to make more so you don't have to worry about anymore urges." She huffed as she watched the brunette swallow the rest of the thick and syrupy potion, before falling back onto her pillow, her eyes already shut.

"Does that mean there's been a cure to these symptoms all this time and you didn't bother to give it to us to begin with?!" Draco was glaring hard at the medic witch who didn't seem the least of all perturbed by his outburst.

"Mr Malfoy, this potion was made for Miss Granger alone. You do not experience life or death side effects from the Coming of Age symptoms. And for all we knew, Miss Granger could have gone weeks without the fevers, so there was no need to waste this rare potion if we didn't need to." She said sternly, "Shouldn't you be back in bed?"

Draco ignored her. "Why does Granger get off scott-free, while I have to suffer?!" He demanded. "The symptoms make me do stupid and irrational things! It's sickening!"

Her eyes narrowed at his tone. "You will live Mr Malfoy, I'm sure you experience nothing more than you are already used to. You are a growing boy Mr Malfoy, and growing boys have urges, urges that you must learn to control without the potion, regardless of your engagement to Miss Granger."

"You are daft woman? Are you sick in the head!?" He screeched loudly. "Why would I want to urge over _her_ of all people? I did not ask for this engagement, and I'll take any potion to help me cope!"

"I do not like that attitude of yours Mr Malfoy. 10 points from Slytherin." She glared hard at him. "Perhaps you should find a potion to fix that attitude of yours! Now go, Miss Granger needs her rest, and your little temper tantrum is getting you no where."

Draco growled, spinning on his heel and storming out of the room, slamming the door as he went.

* * *

Hermione awoke well rested and reasonably cool. She could see the sun filtering in through her bed screen. She must have slept it… slept in… classes! Oh dear lord she was going to be late!

She bolted up right, trying to scramble out of the unfamiliar sheet. 'Wait… Why am I in the infirmary?' She frowned and glanced around the vacant room, or what she thought to be a vacant room.

"So you and Malfoy, engaged huh?"

She turned at the familiar voice, to see the familiar blonde sitting on the bed across from her. "Alex! You're okay."

Alex smiled. "Yup. Just got back from Herbology class. Madam Pomfrey said I was well enough to start classes again. Thank god I had all that time to finish homework while I was in bed. I would be so swamped otherwise."

"What time is it?" Hermione asked wearily.

"Nearly noon. I thought I'd stop by before lunch to see how you were doing. I was here last night when Malfoy brought you in. He had quit the hissy-fit with Madam Pomfrey." Alex chuckled quietly.

Hermione frowned, she wanted to ask Alex so many questions, but the girl had a good way of directing her curiosity elsewhere. "Oh? Now what?"

"Oh he was just bitching about how you guys are engaged now, and how its not fair you get to take a potion for the symptoms when a Veela comes into Age and he's not allowed." Alex grinned as Hermione's eyes widened. "The boys already informed me about the whole Veela thing, but they didn't tell me about the engagement, they said you would want to tell me something more about it later, personally." She laughed at this, "Now I see why, but Malfoy saved you the trouble."

"I guess Harry and Ron didn't tell you about the symptoms… because they don't even know about it." Hermione sighed heavily, leaning back on her pillow.

"Nawh, but Madam Pomfrey gave me all the details, and she also told Malfoy and myself why you were having trouble with the fevers." Alex leaned over and gently patted Hermione's hand. Hermione remembered most of what Madam Pomfrey had told her last night, but most of it was still a blur.

Alex continued on, noting how silent her friend had become. "Why don't we talk about it more over lunch? Dumbledore said you should be well enough to come down to the Great Hall for some lunch. He also told me to tell you, not to even think about going to classes today. He's already informed your teachers you get the day off to recover." Alex laughed knowingly.

"But I need to take notes!" Hermione whined, slowly following after Alex who shook her head.

"No can do, Miss Granger! I'm under strict orders to take you to lunch; then back to your common room you go!"

* * *

Draco sat at the Slytherin table as usual, picking away at his food in silence. Pansy and few other Slytherin girls were currently giggling over god knows what, While Blaise sat beside him, regarding him quietly.

"Hey why is that Kydell-girl sitting at the Gryffindor table? Is that even allowed?" Pansy hissed.

Both Blaise and Draco glanced up to indeed see Alex, sitting across from Hermione, Ginny Weasley and Lavender Brown, talking quietly as they ate their lunches. Granger herself looked a lot better than she did last night, no longer pale and sweaty, that potion seemed to cure her of everything. Including the god-forsaken symptoms! It wasn't fair! Draco needed that potion too.

"I hear she's dating Potter now." Blaise said nonchalantly, trying to hide his smirk. "Which is fine by me."

Pansy narrowed her eyes at Blaise. "Zabini! Are you insane! You are actually encouraging that slut to sleep with St. Potter?" She shrieked.

Blaise glared back at her. "That '_slut_', Parkinson, happens to be one of my best friends. And I don't remember encouraging her to sleep with Potter."

"You just want to get with that mini-Weasel." Pansy sniffed indignantly. "Why wouldn't you be encouraging Kydell to fuck Potter? After all, that would mean you actually get to fuck with a poor, ugly rat!"

Before Blaise could react, Draco spoke up. "Why don't you shut the fuck up Pansy? No one here wants to hear you whine and bitch, especially since you're the loosest girl at this table… scratch that, in all of Hogwarts."

Blaise didn't bother trying to hide his grin.

"You are an asshole Draco Malfoy. And dirty one at that, seeing how you're lowering your standards by marrying a _Mudblood_!" She yelled angrily getting to her feet, this time getting the attention of the entire Great Hall.

"At least I'm not marrying a whore." Draco retorted back, watching her face turn red with anger, "Besides she's half-Veela, she'll probably be a way better fuck than you could ever hope to be."

"Argh! I hate you!" She screamed angrily, storming out of the Hall.

"Likewise." He muttered, returning his attention to his untouched plate.

"Uh, Draco… Granger is glaring at you." Blaise said uneasily.

"What else is new? I defend the ungrateful bitch so she glares." Draco rolled his eyes. "I can blame it on the symptoms if I act out of turn; she cannot, so she has nothing to whine about."

* * *

"Ugh! He's so aggravating!" Hermione hissed, glaring over at Draco once more, who didn't even bother to look up from his plate as Pansy stormed off.

"He defended you didn't he?" Ginny stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh yes, he sure knows the right words to swoon a girl." Hermione muttered sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she took a few bites out of her turkey-bacon sandwich.

"He's probably still moody, because you got the potion and he didn't." Alex laughed lightly.

"And that gives him the right to say I'm a better fuck than Pansy in front of everyone? How would he know? I won't be sleeping with him EVER! And that's not even a compliment! It's Pansy!" Hermione growled between bites.

"Well, he should know. Anyone is better than Pansy. That was his point." Lavender said reassuringly.

"That's not defending me Lav', that's insulting me! Saying Pansy is even lower than me, lower than dirt!"

"'Mione, you're reading too much into it." Ginny said gently. "He knows you were never just a Muggleborn. You're half-Veela. But you can't expect him to be civil to you after all these years."

"I know that!" She snapped angrily, "It's just, if I'm going to be forced to marry his arrogant ass, I'll expect some amount or respect!"

"One step at a time, hun." Alex said softly.

"Hey." A new voice, familiar, and obviously male, made the girls glance above Alex to see Blaise standing behind her.

"Oh hey Blaise. What's up?" Alex smiled up at her friend.

His eyes, no-so-discreetly, shifted towards Ginny for a few moments, before glancing back down at his blonde friend. "You said you needed help on that Potions essay, since you were away all that time." Blaise's voice was soft and fluid, and indigo eyes were deep and almost longing.

"Oh right! I'll meet you in the Library in five; I just gotta grab my stuff." Alex said happily, "Thanks again Blaise."

"No problem, just hurry it up, we only have forty-five minutes left before potions." Blaise smiled and shook his head, walking off towards the Library.

Alex grinned as she leaned over to Ginny, "He really, really fancy's you Gin'; especially since the Halloween Ball." Alex giggled as Ginny flushed red. "I'm working on getting him enough courage to ask you out- but maybe you should just save him the trouble." She laughed.

"Alex!" Ginny gasped, "Ron would kill me!"

"All the more reason to date the guy. He's cute enough isn't he?" Alex asked innocently. Hermione grinned at this; everyone knew Blaise was barely a notch below Draco in the school hottie ranking.

Ginny grinned deviously. "Oh he's _cute_ enough."

"And you missy!" Alex turned to stare at Hermione as she got to her feet, collecting her things before going to meet Blaise. "You, need to get your fine ass into bed! No classes!"

"Yes mum." Hermione shot back, watching Alex leave.

"Blaise Zabini really likes me?" Ginny asked, mostly to herself.

Lavender scoffed, "Oh don't tell me you're actually surprised Gin', everyone knows."

"You knew?" Ginny asked Hermione accusingly.

"Of course. Alex is my best friend, and she talks with Blaise lots. I thought you would have figured it out when he asked you to dance on Halloween?" Hermione shook her head as Ginny continued to sputter.

"Well I… I… I didn't know!!" She whined, causing the other two girls to laugh. "You've guys known I've liked Zabini for ages, and you didn't tell me?!"

"Correction Ginny, you were too busy drooling after to the boy-who-lived." Hermione laughed.

"Yes well, I made it clear I thought Zabini was hot!" Ginny protested.

Lavender shook her head in mock-sadness. "Sometimes you are as dense as your brother."

"Hey!"

* * *

Draco watched as Harry Potter walked over to the group of giggling girls at the Gryffindor table. He ruffled the mini-Weasel's hair playfully, before insisting that Granger gave him a hug, because he had heard about her fever and was worried.

Some friend he was, he wasn't even there when Granger was suffering. Draco frowned, great, he was getting possessive again.

He forced himself to look away when his arms wrapped around Hermione's small figure, puling her in close to his body. Potter was whispering in her ear, asking if she was okay, and if Draco had hurt her in some way.

Draco growled, his fists clenching and unclenching beneath the table at his lap.

He watched as Potter removed a few stray strands of brown hair from her eyes affectionately. He was getting a little too affectionate.

Fuck this.

Draco was at his feet in an instant, and stalking over to Hermione and that insolent Pothead.

"Really Harry I'm fine. Madam Pomfrey gave me a potion that really—Malfoy?" She paused, mid-sentence to watch as he approached her.

Potter turned around to see the livid look on his face. He made the mistake of putting himself between Draco and Hermione. "What do you want now Malfoy?"

"Bugger off Potter." He shoved past him, and grabbed Hermione's up arm with a strong grip, before proceeding to try to drag her out of the Hall.

"Ow! Malfoy what the fuck?" Hermione hiss at him, trying to keep her feet in place so he couldn't drag her anywhere.

Draco was shoved by Potter, and nearly stumbled to the ground when he lost his grip on Hermione. "I said fuck off Potter! This has nothing to do with you." He lunged for Hermione's arm again.

And when Harry pushed her behind him, both his fists were raised as were Draco's. "Fiancée or not, you are going to stay the fuck away from 'Mione. She doesn't belong to you!"

"Well she certainly doesn't belong to you!" Draco moved forward, ready to attack, but Hermione rushed forward, pushing her hands against his chest as he pulled back his arm to swing.

"Malfoy stop!" She yelled angrily, but he had already stopped moving the moment she rushed into his arms. She glanced back at Harry who looked both angry and confused. "I'll deal with him Harry. I can take care of myself." She promised, glancing between him, Ginny and Lavender. "I'll see you at dinner." She smiled, before grabbing Draco by the wrist, and dragged him out of the Hall.

* * *

She was so angry, she wanted nothing more than to slap Malfoy silly. He was just being a prick because he didn't get the potion too. So now he was going to make her life a living hell. Well Hermione Granger was going to have none of that. Fiancé or not, Draco Malfoy was going to learn his place, and he was going to learn some control while she was at it.

Once they were about halfway to their common room, Hermione stopped and spun on him. "What the hell is your problem Malfoy?" She demanded angrily. "It's not my fault Madam Pomfrey wont give you the-"

She gasped loudly, as he pushed her roughly against the wall, kissing her deep and hard. "Shut up." He hissed at her, "Just shut up Granger. You may not feel the urges anymore, but I certainly do." He stressed this point, by pressing himself fully against her. "I can't stand it when he touches you." He growled in her ear, before attacking her throat with kisses.

He didn't need to voice his name, for Hermione to realize with was Harry; Draco Malfoy was jealous of Harry Potter. "Harry and I, we are just friends." She hissed out, finally inhaling his scent. "He's with Alex anyway." She didn't bother trying to figure out why she was justifying herself to him.

He growled again, his hands trailing over her stomach, before one lifted to brush away hair from her eyes, much like Harry did. "He touches you too much for someone who is_ just_ a friend."

"_You_ touch me too much for someone who is supposed to hate me!" Hermione snapped back, trying to stay angry while looking into those lust-driven eyes. She knew this would be so much worse if she hadn't drunk that potion this morning.

"And whose fault is that?" He asked smoothly.

Her eyes narrowed. "If you are trying to blame all of this on me Mr Malfoy, it's not going to work! This is all, your father and Darien's fault! I have nothing to do with it! I don't even want this!" She cried angrily.

"And you think I do?" Draco snapped back. "You drive me insane Granger! Both mentally and physically! And the more I fight it the more it hurts, so I'm giving up. And if you don't like this, well than too bad, you can find me some of that potion so you don't have to deal with me anymore than you have to."

She let out a frustrated yell, only to be suppressed by his lips. "You are so infuriating." She hissed against his cheek. "I can't get you that potion! Ask Snape for it! But don't go and punish me, just because you can't control your urges! It's not my fault you have no control!"

She squeaked, feeling him nibble at her collar bone. "I have plenty of control." He growled, his hold around her waist tightening. "That is why I'm going to make sure Potter never touches you." She moaned feeling his teeth graze her ear-lobe.

"Stop it!" She groaned. "You are letting the symptoms control you."

He let out a cool laugh at this. "No Granger, you're the one _letting_ the symptoms control me. You're letting me control you… and you have no excuse this time." He chuckled wryly, pressing her further against the wall.

"I hate you." She tried to push against him, and even if she could try her strongest, it wouldn't be enough. Hermione wasn't stupid. Draco was too strong.

"And I hate you." He paused for a moment, watching her cheeks flush red, and her breath come in fast gasps. His lips barely grazing the skin of her throat, as a slow sly smirk touched his lips. "But you like it anyway. Regardless of the symptoms, you like it anyway." He laughed almost sarcastically.

She groaned loudly, when he attacked her neck again with his lips, her head thrown back against the stone wall. "Why can't I hate what you do to me?" She whined between gasps. "I hate you!" She screamed angrily, only to be hushed again by his lips.

He moved against her, stopping the kiss momentarily, to let her breath. He watched as tears spilled down her cheeks. "Why can't we stop?" She whispered angrily.

"Because," He said slowly, "It's in our blood."

And then her hands were tangled in his hair, and his hands were at her hips, pulling her ever closer to his body.

* * *

**AN:** zomg, I got through with little to no writers block while I wrote this. Yay... maybe I can actually continue this fic. I still have plot twists coming u, but I'm rearranging the plot, because it's been a year and I don't remember what my original idea was. Bear with me, and tell me what you think after my long hiatus.

**Next chap:** Hermione finally contronts Alex on what happened christmas night, and why she came back and had to spend a few weeks in the hospital wing. Among other smexy things involing a certain Draco Malfoy.

_**Read and Review!**_


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